figure out
verb
Simple meaning
Find the solution to or understand the meaning of.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
figyerowtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪɡjɚˈaʊt
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
informal
Find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
informal
To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
informal
To calculate.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
Used this way, figure out is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.