clash
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A skirmish, a hostile encounter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klashIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklæʃ
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
Opposition; contradiction; such as between differing or contending interests, views, purposes etc.
A skirmish, a hostile encounter.
An angry argument.
A combination of garments that do not look good together, especially because of conflicting colours.
verb
intransitive
To come into violent conflict.
intransitivein games or sports
To face each other in an important game.
intransitiveof events
To coincide, to happen at the same time, thereby rendering it impossible to attend all.
intransitive
To argue angrily.
transitive
To cause to make a clashing sound.
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: Opposition; contradiction; such as between differing or contending interests, views, purposes etc.
Used this way, clash 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.
More ways to use clash
- “Her dress was a disturbing clash of colors.”noun
- “We clashed over the new farm policies.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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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.