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bass

adjective · noun · verb

Simple meaning

A voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

bas
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbæs

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.

adjective

  1. Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.

noun

  1. A low spectrum of sound tones.

  2. music

    A section of a musical group that produces low-pitched sound, lower than the baritone and tenor.

  3. The perch; any of various marine and freshwater fish resembling the perch, all within the order of Perciformes.

  4. The fibrous inner bark of the linden or lime tree, used for making mats.

  5. A rural town in Bass Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia, named after George Bass.

  6. Fibers from other plants, especially palm trees

verb

  1. To sound in a deep tone.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An unincorporated community in Hardy County, West Virginia, named for the presence of bass (fish) in the local creek.

Used this way, bass 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

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

More ways to use bass

  • “My favorite part of the song is the strong bass line.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Sound / section

bass drumbass voicebass clarinetbass guitarbass viol

Other combinations

bass playerbass straitbass fishing

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • bassistnounPerson or profession

    A musician who play the bass viol.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • bass voicenounCompound term

    The lowest adult male singing voice.

  • bass hornnounCompound term

    The lowest brass wind instrument.

  • bass guitarnounCompound term

    The guitar with six strings that has the lowest pitch.

  • bass fiddlenounCompound term

    Largest and lowest member of the violin family.

  • bass drumnounCompound term

    A large drum with two heads.

  • bass clefnounCompound term

    A clef that puts the F below middle C on the fourth line of a staff.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • basso continuonounRelated term

    A bass part written out in full and accompanied by numbers to indicate the chords to be played.

  • basso profundonounRelated term

    A very deep bass voice.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: of sound or a voice or an instrument

deep

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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.