direction

noun

Simple meaning

A line leading to a place or point.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

derehkshuhn

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

dɚˈɛkʃən

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

A line leading to a place or point
A theoretical line (physically or mentally) followed from a point of origin or towards a destination. May be relative (e.g. up, left, outbound, dorsal), geographical (e.g. north), rotational (e.g. clockwise), or with respect to an object or location (e.g. toward Boston).
A general trend for future action.
Guidance, instruction.
The work of the director in cinema or theater; the skill of directing a film, play etc.

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: A line leading to a place or point

Used this way, direction 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 direction

“He checked the direction and velocity of the wind.”noun
“I couldn't follow the direction of his thoughts.”noun
“He gave directions faster than she could follow them.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Line / theoretical

new direction

General

general direction

Other combinations

opposite directionright direction

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

directionaladjectiveDerived adjective
Related to A line leading to a place or point.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

direction findernounCompound term
Radio.
east-west directionnounCompound term
In a direction parallel with lines of latitude.
north-south directionnounCompound term
In a direction parallel with lines of longitude.
self-directionnounCompound term
Personal independence.
sense of directionnounCompound term
An awareness of your orientation in space.
stage directionnounCompound term
An instruction written as part of the script of a play.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

directional mikenounRelated term
A microphone that is designed to receive sound from a particular direction.
directional microphonenounRelated term
A microphone that is designed to receive sound from a particular direction.
nondirectional antennanounRelated term
An antenna that sends or receives signals equally in all directions.
omnidirectional antennanounRelated term
An antenna that sends or receives signals equally in all directions.

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.