VocabauraVOCABAURA

aide

noun

Simple meaning

A person whose job is to help someone important.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ayd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈeɪd

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. military

    An officer who acts as assistant to a more senior one; an aide-de-camp.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: An officer who acts as assistant to a more senior one; an aide-de-camp.

Used this way, aide is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.

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

  • Military
  • Historical writing
  • News/reporting
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

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

Nearby words

  • adjutant , a specialist term, precise but narrower

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

More ways to use aide

  • “The principal's aide helped organize the school's annual fundraiser.”

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “aide”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

health aidehouse aideformer aidemilitary aidechief aideteacher aidetop aidepersonal aide

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • aidesnounPlural form

    The god of the underworld in ancient mythology.

  • aidedadjectiveInflected form

    Having help.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • aide-de-campnounCompound term

    An officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer.

  • aide-memoirenounCompound term

    A memorandum summarizing the items of an agreement (used especially in diplomatic communications).

  • computer-aided designnounCompound term

    Software used in art and architecture and engineering and manufacturing to assist in precision drawing.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “aide” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.