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adopted

adjective · n

Simple meaning

Acquired as your own by free choice.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhdahptuhd

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈdɑptəd

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.

adjective

  1. Acquired as your own by free choice

n

  1. A 2009 American independent mockumentary film starring comedian Pauly Shore as himself, "going to Africa to adopt a child, à la Madonna and Angelina Jolie."

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: Acquired as your own by free choice

Used this way, adopted is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

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

More ways to use adopted

  • “The family happily adopted a new puppy from the local animal shelter.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

generally adoptedadopted sonadopted child

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • adoptverbBase word

    Choose and follow.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • adopternounPerson or profession

    A person who adopts a child of other parents as his or her own child.

  • adoptiveadjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to Acquired as your own by free choice.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • adopteenounRelated term

    Someone (such as a child) who has been adopted.

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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.