discussion
noun
Simple meaning
An extended communication dealing with some particular topic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihskuhshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪsˈkʌʃən
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
An extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic
“The book contains an excellent discussion of modal logic.”
Conversation or debate concerning a particular topic.
Text giving further detail on a subject.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic
Used this way, discussion is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The book contains an excellent discussion of modal logic.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “discussion of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: discussion of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use discussion
- “The book contains an excellent discussion of modal logic.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A small class of students who are part of a larger course but are taught separately.
A discussion among participants who have an agreed (serious) topic.
Discussion of a subject of public interest by a group of persons forming a panel usually before an audience.
Free and open discussion of (or debate on) some question of public interest.
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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.