amalgam
noun
Simple meaning
A combination or blend of diverse things.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhmalguhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈmælɡəm
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
A combination or blend of diverse things
“His theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas.”
A combination of different things.
dentistry
An alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams
“The dentist replaced an old amalgam filling with a newer material.”
metallurgy
An alloy containing mercury.
dentistry
An alloy of mercury used to fill tooth cavities.
One of the ingredients in an alloy.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A combination or blend of diverse things
Used this way, amalgam is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“His theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas.”
- 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 “amalgam of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- dental amalgam , rarer, so it draws attention
Natural pattern: amalgam of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Alloynoun
“The dentist replaced an old amalgam filling with a newer material.”
Combinationnoun
“His theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas.”
More ways to use amalgam
- “His theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas.”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.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The combination of two or more commercial companies.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: combination or blend of diverse things
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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.