cloak
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Anything that covers or conceals.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klohkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkloʊk
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
Anything that covers or conceals
A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.
A loose outer garment
figurative
That which conceals; a disguise or pretext.
A blanket-like covering, often metaphorical.
verb
Cover as if with clothing
transitivefigurative
To cover up, hide or conceal.
Cover with or as if with a cloak
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Anything that covers or conceals
Used this way, cloak 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 cloak
- “Night hid her movements with its cloak of darkness.”noun
- “The ship cloaked before entering the enemy sector of space.”verb
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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.
A long cloak with a hood that can be pulled over the head.
Of temperate regions.
Of temperate regions.
A large cloak worn over evening clothes.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.