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doughnut

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A deep-fried piece of dough or batter, usually mixed with different sweeteners and flavors.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dohnuht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdoʊnət

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. A deep-fried piece of dough or batter, usually mixed with various sweeteners and flavors, often made in a toroidal or ellipsoidal shape flattened sphere shape filled with jelly/jam, custard, or cream.

  2. figuratively

    Any object in the shape of a torus.

  3. A spare car tyre, usually stored in the boot, that is smaller than a full-sized tyre and is only intended for temporary use.

  4. A toroidal cushion typically used by hemorrhoid patients.

  5. A shaper for making hair into a ponytail or bun

  6. AustraliaCanadaUS

    A peel-out or skid mark in the shape of a circle; a 360-degree skid.

verb

  1. To encircle something.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A deep-fried piece of dough or batter, usually mixed with various sweeteners and flavors, often made in a toroidal or ellipsoidal shape flattened sphere shape filled with jelly/jam, custard, or cream.

Used this way, doughnut 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
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • anulus , rarer, so it draws attention

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.

Deep

jelly doughnutchocolate doughnut

Shaper

doughnut hole

Other combinations

doughnut shopdoughnut shapedoughnut chartglazed doughnutdoughnut cutter

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • annulus

    A toroidal shape.

  • donut

    A deep-fried piece of dough or batter, usually mixed with various sweeteners and flavors, often made in a toroidal or….

  • ring

    A piece of food in the shape of a ring.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • berlin doughnutnounCompound term

    A raised doughnut filled with jelly or jam.

  • jelly doughnutnounCompound term

    A raised doughnut filled with jelly or jam.

  • raised doughnutnounCompound term

    A doughnut made light with yeast rather than baking powder.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: deep-fried piece of dough or batter

donutanulusRare

verb

Sense: to encircle something

halo

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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.