creek
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kreekIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹik
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 small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary.
AustraliaNew ZealandCanadaUS
A natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
“The creek dried up every summer.”
The Muskogean language of the Creek tribe.
AustraliaNew ZealandCanadaUS
A stream of water, typically a stream of freshwater smaller than a river; in Australia, also used of river-sized bodies of water.
One of a Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, also known as the Muscogee.
Any turn or winding.
adjective
Of or pertaining to the Creek tribe.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary.
Used this way, creek is a word tied to one variety of English that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. Most speakers understand it but seldom reach for it.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Uncommon in everyday speech
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.
More ways to use creek
- “The creek dried up every summer.”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 channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a stream.
A North American Indian confederacy organized by the Muskogee that dominated the southeastern part of the United States before being removed to Oklahoma.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- tributarynoun
- watershednoun
- confluencenoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: small inlet or often saltwater
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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.