constitution
noun
Simple meaning
The main rules and laws that guide a government or group
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahnstuhtooshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kɑnstəˈtuʃən
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
government
The formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions.
law
A legal document describing such a formal system.
The act of forming or establishing something
The act, or process of setting something up, or establishing something; the composition or structure of such a thing; its makeup.
The way in which someone or something is composed
A person's physical makeup or temperament, especially in respect of robustness.
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: (government) The formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions.
Used this way, constitution is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- organic law , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use constitution
- “He has a strong constitution, so he should make a quick recovery from the illness.”noun
- “The country's constitution guarantees basic rights for everyone.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Law determining the fundamental political principles of a government.
A law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules.….
The institution and official status of a church as a state church, especially that of the Church of England and….
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to The formal or informal system of primary principles and laws that regulates a government or other institutions.
According to the constitution.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A New England state.
The constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states.
The particular alleles at specified loci present in an organism.
The constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- referendumnoun
- statutenoun
- amendedadjective
- legislaturenoun
- ratificationnoun
- monarchynoun
- articlenoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: formal
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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.