excerpt
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A passage selected from a larger work.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehkserptSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛksɚpt
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 passage selected from a larger work
“He presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings.”
verb
transitive
To select or copy sample material (excerpts) from a work.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A passage selected from a larger work
Used this way, excerpt is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- 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 excerpt
- “He presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: passage selected from a larger work
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “excerpt” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.