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depth

noun

Simple meaning

The deepest part.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dehpth
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdɛpθ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. literaryusually in the plural

    The deepest part (usually of a body of water)

  2. The vertical distance below a surface; the degree to which something is deep

  3. The distance between the front and the back, as the depth of a drawer or closet

  4. figuratively

    The intensity, complexity, strength, seriousness or importance of an emotion, situation, etc.

  5. literaryusually in the plural

    A very remote part.

  6. The most severe part

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: The deepest part (usually of a body of water)

Used this way, depth is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in literature or storytelling contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Formal
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Literary and expressive

Where it naturally appears

  • Literature/storytelling

Usage note

Comfortable in writing and prepared speech; in casual conversation a shorter everyday word usually sounds more natural.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use depth

  • “The depth of the water.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

depth perceptiongreater depthgreat depthwater depthmaximum depthaverage depthsome depthconsiderable depth

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • depthsnounPlural form

    The deepest and most remote part.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • depth chargenounCompound term

    A bomb that explodes at a preset depth under water.

  • depth findernounCompound term

    Navigational instrument used to measure the depth of a body of water (as by ultrasound or radar).

  • depth gagenounCompound term

    A gauge for measuring the depth of grooves or holes or other concavities.

  • depth gaugenounCompound term

    A gauge for measuring the depth of grooves or holes or other concavities.

  • depth psychologynounCompound term

    A set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders.

  • depth bombnounCompound term

    A bomb that explodes at a preset depth under water.

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.