dynamo
noun
Simple meaning
Generator made up of a coil that rotates between the poles of an electromagnet causing a current to flow in the armature.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dynuhmohSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdaɪnəmoʊ
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
electromagnetism
Generator consisting of a coil (the armature) that rotates between the poles of an electromagnet (the field magnet) causing a current to flow in the armature
electromagnetism
An electricity generator; a dynamo-electric machine.
figuratively
An energetic person.
astrophysics
The mechanism by which a celestial body, such as the Earth or a star, generates a magnetic field.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Generator consisting of a coil (the armature) that rotates between the poles of an electromagnet (the field magnet) causing a current to flow in the armature
Used this way, dynamo 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 dynamo
- “That new Vice President of Marketing is a real dynamo; sales have already gone up this quarter.”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 highly energetic and indefatigable person.
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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.