colonel blimp
noun
Simple meaning
A stereotype of a pompous, ex-military middle-aged man, conservative and opposed to new ideas.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kurnuhlblimpSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɝnəlbˈlɪmp
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
british
A stereotype of a pompous, ex-military middle-aged man, conservative and opposed to new ideas.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A stereotype of a pompous, ex-military middle-aged man, conservative and opposed to new ideas.
Used this way, colonel blimp is a word tied to one variety of English with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
Mainly used in British English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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