behavior
noun
Simple meaning
The way or manner a living creature behaves or acts generally.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bihhayvyerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
bɪˈheɪvjɚ
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
countableuncountable
The way or manner a living creature behaves or acts generally.
countableuncountablebiologypsychology
An observable response produced by an organism.
uncountable
Human conduct relative to social norms.
uncountable
The way a device or system operates.
uncountableinformal
A state of probation about one's conduct.
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: The way or manner a living creature behaves or acts generally.
Used this way, behavior 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.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Human
Reaction
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Psychotherapy that seeks to extinguish or inhibit abnormal or maladaptive behavior by reinforcing desired behavior and extinguishing undesired behavior.
Psychotherapy that seeks to extinguish or inhibit abnormal or maladaptive behavior by reinforcing desired behavior and extinguishing undesired behavior.
A set of conventional principles and expectations that are considered binding on any person who is a member of a particular group.
Any act of molesting, interrupting, hindering, agitating, or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled.
A code that permits greater sexual freedom for men than for women (associated with the subordination of women).
The exponential return of a system to equilibrium after a disturbance.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to behavior.
Of or relating to behavior.
An approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior.
An approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: way or manner a living creature behaves
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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.