caller
noun
Simple meaning
The person initiating a telephone call.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kawlerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɔlɚ
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
telephony
The person initiating a telephone call
“There were so many callers that he finally disconnected the telephone.”
telephony
The person who makes a telephone call.
telephony
An investor who buys a call option
bingo
A person who announces the changes of steps during a dance
“You need a fiddler and a caller for country dancing.”
A social or business visitor
bingo
The person who stands at the front of the hall and announces the numbers.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The person initiating a telephone call
Used this way, caller is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“There were so many callers that he finally disconnected the telephone.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “caller that …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: caller that …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Initiating / makesnoun
“There were so many callers that he finally disconnected the telephone.”
Announcesnoun
“You need a fiddler and a caller for country dancing.”
More ways to use caller
- “The callers were mothers summoning their children home for dinner.”noun
- “You need a fiddler and a caller for country dancing.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A small display that will show you the telephone number of the party calling you.
A person who announces the changes of steps during a dance.
The person initiating a telephone call.
The person who plays quarterback.
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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.