curtain
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A piece of cloth covering a window.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kurtuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɝtən
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
A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.
A similar piece of cloth that separates the audience and the stage in a theater.
theaterby extension
The beginning of a show; the moment the curtain rises.
The uninterrupted stream of fluid that falls onto a moving substrate in the process of curtain coating.
verb
transitive
To cover (a window) with a curtain; to hang curtains.
transitivefiguratively
To hide, cover or separate as if by a curtain.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.
Used this way, curtain 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 curtain
- “She opened the curtain to let more sunlight into the room.”
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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 private lecture to a husband by his wife.
Separate by means of a curtain.
Any preliminary activity.
The first performance (as of a theatrical production).
A circular ring for holding up a curtain.
An appearance by actors or performers at the end of the concert or play in order to acknowledge the applause of the audience.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.