adjustment
noun
Simple meaning
A small change.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhjuhstmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈdʒʌstmənt
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.
noun
The act of adjusting something to match a standard
The action of adjusting something
The result of adjusting something; a small change; a minor correction; a modification or alteration
The settling or balancing of a financial account
The assessment, by an insurance company, of a claim; the settlement of such a claim
The behavioural process of balancing conflicting needs, or needs against obstacles in the environment.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of adjusting something to match a standard
Used this way, adjustment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- 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.
More ways to use adjustment
- “We made a slight adjustment to the schedule to fit everyone's needs.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
One who investigates insurance claims or claims for damages and recommends an effective settlement.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A statistical adjustment made to accommodate predictable fluctuations as a function of the season of the year.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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.