buzzard
noun
Simple meaning
Any scavenging bird, such as the American black vulture or the turkey vulture.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
buhzerdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbʌzɚd
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
canadaus
Any scavenging bird, such as the American black vulture (Coragyps atratus) or the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
Any of several Old World birds of prey of the genus Buteo with broad wings and a broad tail.
(colloquial, derogatory, slang, often preceded by "old", the "old buzzard") In North America, a curmudgeonly or cantankerous man; an old person; a mean, greedy person.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any scavenging bird, such as the American black vulture (Coragyps atratus) or the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
Used this way, buzzard 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
Nearby words
- turkey vulture , rarer, so it draws attention
- turkey buzzard , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: any scavenging bird
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “buzzard” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.