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debris

noun

Simple meaning

The remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

duhbree

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dəˈbriː

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

  2. Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.

  3. Litter and discarded refuse.

  4. The ruins of a broken-down structure.

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: The remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

Used this way, debris 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 debris

  • “After the storm, there was a lot of debris scattered everywhere.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

debris flowspace debriscellular debrisorganic debriscell debrisplant debrisrock debriswear debris

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • debris stormnounCompound term

    The sudden spread of dust and debris from a collapsing building.

  • debris surgenounCompound term

    The sudden spread of dust and debris from a collapsing building.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: remains of something that has been destroyed

rubble

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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.