attention deficit disorder
noun
Simple meaning
A syndrome once thought to affect children only, but now known also to affect adults, that is having frequent, chronic distractibility.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhtehnshuhndehfuhsuhtdihsawrderSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈtɛnʃənˈdɛfəsətdɪˈsɔɹdɚ
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
A syndrome formerly thought to affect children only, but now known also to affect adults, that is characterized by frequent, chronic distractibility, and either inattentiveness or hyperactivity (fidgeting).
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A syndrome formerly thought to affect children only, but now known also to affect adults, that is characterized by frequent, chronic distractibility, and either inattentiveness or hyperactivity (fidgeting).
Used this way, attention deficit disorder is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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