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adder

noun

Simple meaning

A name loosely applied to different snakes more or less resembling a viper.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ader

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈædɚ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uscanada

    Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders

  2. A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.

  3. Someone who or something which performs arithmetic addition; a machine for adding numbers.

  4. Death adders (Acanthophis spp.), elapid snakes found in Southeast Asia and Australia

  5. An electronic device that adds voltages, currents or frequencies.

  6. Something which adds or increases.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders

Used this way, adder is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Mild
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Several / death

death adderbit adder

Other combinations

full adderhalf adderpuff adderdeaf adderbinary adderparallel adder

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • banded addernounCompound term

    Sluggish krait banded with black and yellow.

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Words can change meaning depending on context.

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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.