blubber
noun · verb
Form of blub , comparative of blub.
Simple meaning
An insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bluhberSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblʌbɚ
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
An insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals; used as a source of oil
uncountablecountable
A fatty layer of adipose tissue found immediately beneath the epidermis of whales and other cetaceans (infraorder Cetacea).
uncountable
A fatty layer of adipose tissue found in other animals which keeps them warm, especially Arctic animals such as sea lions and Antarctic animals such as penguins.
One who blubs ("cries or weeps freely and noisily"); a blubberer.
verb
intransitivechiefly derogatory
To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
transitive
Often followed by out: to cry out (words) while sobbing.
Utter while crying
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (chiefly derogatory) To cry or weep freely and noisily; to sob.
Used this way, blubber 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
- No strong connotation
- 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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
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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.