encounter
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To meet or find.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnkownterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈkaʊntɚ
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.
verb
transitive
To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
transitive
To confront (someone or something) face to face.
intransitive
To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.
noun
A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.
A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
india
An extrajudicial killing or execution.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
Used this way, encounter 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
- No strong connotation
- 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.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A meeting of people to develop mutual understanding by freely expressing emotions.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to meet (someone) or find (something) or especially unexpectedly
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What Does It Mean Here?
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.