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assume

verb

Simple meaning

Take on a certain form, attribute.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhsoom

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈsum

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.

verb

  1. Take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

  2. To take on a position, duty or form.

  3. To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof.

  4. To adopt a feigned quality or manner; to claim without right; to arrogate.

  5. To adopt (an idea or cause).

  6. Occupy or take on

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof.

Used this way, assume 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 assume

  • “I assume his train was late.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

assume responsibilitynow assume

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • assumed namenounCompound term

    A name that has been assumed temporarily.

  • re-assumeverbCompound term

    Take on again, as after a time lapse.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • assumptionnounRelated term

    A statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: take on a certain form or attribute

presumetake

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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.