describe
verb
Simple meaning
To give an account or representation of in words.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihskrybSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪskˈɹaɪb
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.
verb
To give an account or representation of in words
“Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental.”
transitive
To represent by drawing; to draw a plan of; to delineate; to trace or mark out.
transitivetaxonomy
To introduce a new taxon to science by explaining its characteristics and particularly how it differs from other taxa.
Give a description of
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: To give an account or representation of in words
Used this way, describe is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Discreet Italian police described it in a manner typically continental.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to give an account or representation of in words
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.