blackbird
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A common dark-colored songbird often seen in gardens.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blakberdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblækbɚd
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 variety of New World birds of the family Icteridae (26 species of icterid bird).
A common true thrush, Turdus merula, found in woods and gardens over much of Eurasia, and introduced elsewhere.
Common black European thrush
Any bird of the family Icteridae whose male is black or predominantly black
verb
To enslave someone, especially through chicanery or force
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A variety of New World birds of the family Icteridae (26 species of icterid bird).
Used this way, blackbird is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- 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
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
- Family/home
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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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Long-tailed American blackbird having iridescent black plumage.
Common black European thrush.
Any bird of the family Icteridae whose male is black or predominantly black.
North American blackbird with scarlet patches on the wings.
European thrush common in rocky areas.
North American blackbird whose bluish-black plumage is rusty-edged in the fall.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- woodpeckernoun
- pigeonnoun
- sparrownoun
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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.