beset
verb
Simple meaning
To attack or assail.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bihsehtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
bɪˈsɛt
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.
verb
Assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"
transitivesometimes figurative
To attack or assail, especially from all sides.
transitive
To surround or hem in.
transitive
To decorate something with jewels etc.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Assail or attack on all sides: "The zebra was beset by leopards"
Used this way, beset is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.