apex
noun
Simple meaning
The highest or the greatest part of something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aypeksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈeɪpɛks
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
chiefly anatomy
The pointed fine end of something.
The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
geometry
The highest point in a plane or solid figure, relative to a base line or plane.
figuratively
The moment of greatest success, expansion, etc.
The lowest part of the human heart.
An obstacle for a horse to jump over, consisting of a triangular corner fence.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The highest or the greatest part of something, especially forming a point.
Used this way, apex is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The point on the celestial sphere toward which the sun and solar system appear to be moving relative to the fixed stars.
The point on the celestial sphere toward which the sun and solar system appear to be moving relative to the fixed stars.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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.