consumption
noun
Simple meaning
Eating, drinking or using.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhnsuhmpshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kənˈsʌmpʃən
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
The act of eating, drinking or using.
The act of consuming or destroying.
The amount consumed.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of eating, drinking or using.
Used this way, consumption 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 consumption
- “The consumption of energy has increased steadily.”noun
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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 shrub of salt marshes of eastern and south central North America and West Indies.
Buying expensive services and products in order to flaunt your wealth.
The utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing.
The ratio of the number of miles traveled to the number of gallons of gasoline burned.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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.