annex
noun · verb
Simple meaning
To add something to another thing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aneksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈænɛks
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
An addition to the territory of a country or state, from a neighbouring country or state, normally by military force.
An addition that extends a main building
An addition or extension to a building.
An appendix to a book or document.
verb
To add something to another thing, especially territory; to incorporate.
To attach or connect, as a consequence, condition, etc.
intransitive
To join; to be united.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An addition to the territory of a country or state, from a neighbouring country or state, normally by military force.
Used this way, annex 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.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use annex
- “Hitler annexed Lithuania.”verb
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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.
Incorporation by joining or uniting.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.