accelerate
verb
Simple meaning
To cause to move faster.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aksehleraytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ækˈsɛlɚeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of.
intransitive
To become faster; to begin to move more quickly.
transitive
To quicken the natural or ordinary progression or process of.
transitive
To hasten, as the occurrence of an event.
intransitive
Grow; increase.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To cause to move faster; to quicken the motion of; to add to the speed of.
To 'accelerate' means to increase speed or rate. It's often used for vehicles, but also for processes or progress. Think of pushing the gas pedal to go faster; 'speed up' is a good synonym.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Driving lesson
“Gently accelerate as you merge onto the highway.”
Business meeting
“We need to accelerate production to meet the deadline.”
Science class
“The chemical reaction began to accelerate rapidly with heat.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use accelerate
- “The car accelerated.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A pedal that controls the throttle valve.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.