discontinuity
noun
Simple meaning
Lack of connection or continuity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihskahntihnooihteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪskɑntɪˈnuɪti
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
Lack of connection or continuity
A lack of continuity, regularity or sequence; a break or gap.
mathematics
A point in the range of a function at which it is undefined or discontinuous.
geology
A subterranean interface at which seismic velocities change
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lack of connection or continuity
Used this way, discontinuity 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.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The act of discontinuing or breaking off.
The act of discontinuing or breaking off.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The boundary between the Earth's crust and the underlying mantle.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: lack of connection or continuity
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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.