cactus
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kaktuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkæktəs
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
Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.
adjective
AustraliaNew Zealandslang
Non-functional, broken, exhausted, dead.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.
Used this way, cactus 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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Small tree of dry open parts of southern Africa having erect angled branches suggesting candelabra.
Constituting the order Opuntiales.
Burrowing mouse of desert areas of southwestern United States.
Large harsh-voiced American wren of arid regions of the United States southwest and Mexico.
A cactus of the genus Ferocactus: unbranched barrel-shaped cactus having deep ribs with numerous spines and usually large funnel-shaped flowers followed by dry fruits.
Epiphytic cactus of Brazilian ancestry widely cultivated as a houseplant having jointed flat segments and usually rose-purple flowers that bloom in winter.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Large cactus of east central Mexico having golden to pale yellow flowers and spines.
Arborescent cactus of western Mexico bearing a small oblong edible berrylike fruit.
Small clustering cactus of southwestern United States.
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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.