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asking

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Posing a question or making a request.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

asking

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈæskɪŋ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The act or process of posing a question or making a request.

  2. in the plural

    The marriage banns.

adjective

  1. That asks; that expresses a question or request.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The act or process of posing a question or making a request.

Used this way, asking 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
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • interrogative , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use asking

  • “What price are you asking for the house?”verb
  • “His asking was greeted with silence.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

asking questionskept asking

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • asking pricenounCompound term

    The price at which something is offered for sale.

  • for the askingadverbCompound term

    On the occasion of a request.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: act or process of posing a question

interrogativeTechnicalinterrogatory

adjective

Sense: that asks

interrogativeTechnicalinterrogatory

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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.