country
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
The territory occupied by a nation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhntreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkʌntɹi
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 territory occupied by a nation
The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.
especially britishuncountablecountable
An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
uncountablecountable
An area of land of indefinite extent or of more or less definite extent in relation to human occupation, especially characterized by its particular physical features, or its suitability for a particular activity or connected with its population (by race, dialect, culture, etc.) or a person, especially a writer, or their works.
A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography)
adjective
india
Originating in India rather than being imported from abroad.
From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it.
Of or connected to country music.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The territory occupied by a nation
Used this way, country 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 country
- “His poetry celebrated the slower pace of life in the country.”noun
Share your sentence
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 suburban club for recreation and socializing.
A type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets or face one another in a line.
A type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets or face one another in a line.
A doctor who practices in the country (rather than in a city) usually remote from a modern hospital.
A house (usually large and impressive) on an estate in the country.
A simple style of folk music heard mostly in the southern United States.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A man from your own country.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “country” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.