communicate
verb
Simple meaning
To impart or transmit to someone.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhmyoonuhkaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kəmˈjunəkeɪt
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.
verb
transitive
To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell.
“Please communicate this message to all employees.”
Be in verbal contact; interchange information or ideas
“He and his sons haven't communicated for years.”
transitive
To impart or transmit (an intangible quantity, substance); to give a share of.
intransitive
To express or convey ideas, either through verbal or nonverbal means; to have intercourse, to exchange information.
Transmit thoughts or feelings
“He communicated his anxieties to the psychiatrist.”
Transfer to another
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone; to make known, to tell.
Used this way, communicate is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Please communicate this message to all employees.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Impartverb
“Please communicate this message to all employees.”
Verbal / expressverb
“He and his sons haven't communicated for years.”
Transmitverb
“He communicated his anxieties to the psychiatrist.”
More ways to use communicate
- “Please communicate this message to all employees.”verb
- “He and his sons haven't communicated for years.”verb
- “He communicated his anxieties to the psychiatrist.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The activity of communicating.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person who communicates with others.
Related to the activity of communicating.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any of three arteries in the brain that make up the circle of Willis.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to impart or transmit (information or knowledge) to someone
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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.