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example

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

igzampuhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪɡˈzæmpəl

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. Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.

  2. Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).

  3. Something that is representative of all such things in a group.

  4. An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.

  5. A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.

  6. Punishment intended as a warning to others

    “They decided to make an example of him.”

verb

  1. To be illustrated or exemplified (by).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.

Used this way, example 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 example

  • “This patient provides a typical example of the syndrome.”noun
  • “You must work the examples at the end of each chapter in the textbook.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Serves / task

good example

Punishment / punished

first example

Item

typical example

Other combinations

classic examplefollowing examplesimple example

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule

exemplarinstanceobject lessonillustrationmodel

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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.