award
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A trophy or medal.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhwawrdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈwɔɹd
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 trophy or medal; something that denotes an accomplishment, especially in a competition. A prize or honor based on merit.
academia
Funding that has been granted for the conduct of a research project.
verb
transitiveBritisheducation
(in an examination) To give marks for a correct answer.
transitivelaw
To give by sentence or judicial determination; to assign or apportion, after careful regard to the nature of the case.
transitive
To give (a person) an award.
intransitive
To determine; to make or grant an award.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To give by sentence or judicial determination; to assign or apportion, after careful regard to the nature of the case.
Used this way, award is a specialist word with a clearly warm, approving pull. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Careful and exacting
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic 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.
More ways to use award
- “The referee awarded a free kick to the team.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Judgment / paper
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A grant made by a law court.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Having received awards.
An annual award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievements in motion picture production and performance.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: trophy or medal
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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.