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cancer

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kanser

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkænsɚ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. figuratively

    Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

  2. medicineoncologypathology

    A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation.

  3. Someone with a Cancer star sign.

adjective

  1. slang

    Extremely unpleasant and annoying.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

Used this way, cancer is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
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.

Disease / malignant

lung cancerprostate cancer

Other combinations

breast cancercancer researchovarian cancercolon cancerskin cancercolorectal cancer

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cancer bodynounCompound term

    An inclusion body found in plasma cells in cases of cancer.

  • cancer borealisnounCompound term

    Large red deep-water crab of the eastern coast of North America.

  • cancer cellnounCompound term

    A cell that is part of a malignant tumor.

  • cancer drugnounCompound term

    Any of several drugs that control or kill neoplastic cells.

  • cancer irroratusnounCompound term

    Crab of eastern coast of North America.

  • cancer juicenounCompound term

    A milky substance found in certain cancerous growths.

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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.