appropriate
adjective · verb
Simple meaning
Suitable for a particular person or place or condition etc.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhprohpreeuhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əpˈɹoʊpɹiət
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.
adjective
Suitable for a particular person or place or condition etc
Suitable or fit; proper; felicitous.
Suitable to the social situation or to social respect or social discreetness; socially correct; socially discreet; well-mannered; proper.
of an action or thing
Morally good; positive.
of an action or thing
Pleasant
verb
Give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause
transitive
To set apart for, or assign to, a particular person or use, especially in exclusion of all others; with to or for.
Take possession of by force, as after an invasion
transitive
To take to oneself; to claim or use, especially as by an exclusive right.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Suitable for a particular person or place or condition etc
Used this way, appropriate 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
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use appropriate
- “A book not appropriate for children.”adjective
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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.
Appropriate conduct.
In accordance with what is appropriate or suitable for the circumstances.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: suitable for a particular person or place
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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.