airs
noun
Form of air , plural of air.
Simple meaning
Affected manners intended to impress others.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehrzIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛɹz
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
Affected manners intended to impress others
“Don't put on airs with me.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Affected manners intended to impress others
Used this way, airs is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Don't put on airs with me.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “airs with …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: airs with …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use airs
- “Don't put on airs with me.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
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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.