erosion
noun
Simple meaning
The result of having been worn away or eroded.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihrohzhuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈɹoʊʒən
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
A gradual decline of something
“After the accounting scandal there was an erosion of confidence in the auditors.”
uncountable
The result of having been worn away or eroded, as by a glacier on rock or the sea on a cliff face.
uncountablefigurative
The gradual loss of something as a result of an ongoing process.
uncountable
The changing of a surface by mechanical action, friction, thermal expansion contraction, or impact.
uncountable
Destruction by abrasive action of fluids.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The result of having been worn away or eroded, as by a glacier on rock or the sea on a cliff face.
Used this way, erosion 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 erosion
- “After the accounting scandal there was an erosion of confidence in the auditors.”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.
The erosion of beaches.
The washing away of soil by the flow of water.
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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.