athletic
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Having a muscular, well developed body, being in shape.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
athlehtikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
æθˈlɛtɪk
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
Having a muscular, well developed body, being in shape.
not comparable
Having to do with athletes.
Physically active.
not comparable
Relating to or befitting athletics or athletes
An attribute of a motion or play which requires fine physical ability.
noun
A muscular, large–boned person, in the typology of Ernst Kretschmer.
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: Having a muscular, well developed body, being in shape.
Used this way, athletic 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 athletic
- “Athletic facilities.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Attribute
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A contest between athletes.
A contest between athletes.
A facility for athletic events.
A piece of land prepared for playing a game.
A game involving athletic activity.
A sock worn for athletic events.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “athletic” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
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.