cyclone
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any weather phenomenon made up of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sihklohnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
sɪkˈloʊn
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
loosely
Any weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure; a low pressure system.
specifically
A tropical cyclone occurring in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean.
informal
The more or less violent, small-scale circulations such as tornadoes, waterspouts, and dust devils.
A cyclone separator; the cylindrical vortex tube within such a separator
informal
A strong wind.
verb
To whirl in spirals as a result of a cyclone or whirlwind-like force.
To storm wildly; to be in a frenzy.
To separate using a cyclone separator.
To storm as a cyclone.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (loosely) Any weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure; a low pressure system.
Used this way, cyclone is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This sense is used where position and measurement matter — travel, weather and flight — so it reads as factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Geography/travel
- Weather/aviation
- Technical/specialist writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use cyclone
- “The news reported a massive cyclone heading towards the coast.”noun
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: any weather phenomenon consisting of a system of winds rotating around a centre of low atmospheric pressure
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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.