demo
noun · verb · adjective
Simple meaning
A recording of a song meant to show its overall sound for the purpose of getting it published or recorded more fully.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dehmohSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɛmoʊ
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
informal
A recording of a song meant to demonstrate its overall sound for the purpose of getting it published or recorded more fully.
informal
A demonstration or visual explanation.
computinginformal
An edition of limited functionality to give the user an example of how the program works.
informal
A march or gathering to make a political protest.
informal
An example of a product used for demonstration and then sold at a discount.
informal
A democrat.
verb
informal
To record a demo version of a song, usually not intended for commercial release.
informal
To demonstrate.
informal
To demolish (especially a house or fixture).
adjective
of a commercial product
Designed to test consumers' interest in a retail item prior to purchasing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A recording of a song meant to demonstrate its overall sound for the purpose of getting it published or recorded more fully.
Used this way, demo is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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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.