caucus
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A usually preliminary meeting of party members to nominate candidates for public office or delegates to be sent to a nominating convention.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kawkuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɔkəs
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
A usually preliminary meeting of party members to nominate candidates for public office or delegates to be sent to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding policy.
A grouping of all the members of a legislature from the same party.
A political interest group by members of a legislative body.
verb
informalby extensionintransitive
To confer.
intransitive or transitive with with
To meet and participate in a caucus.
transitive
To bring into or treat in a caucus.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A usually preliminary meeting of party members to nominate candidates for public office or delegates to be sent to a nominating convention, or to confer regarding policy.
Used this way, caucus is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Government/politics
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use caucus
- “The party members will caucus next week to choose their candidate.”verb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Preliminary / grouping
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “caucus” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary from meanings, examples and other prompts.
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.