footstep
noun
Simple meaning
The sound of a step of someone walking.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fuutstepSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfʊtstɛp
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
The sound of a step of someone walking
“He heard footsteps on the porch.”
The sound made by walking, running etc.
The act of taking a step in walking
The mark or impression left by a foot; a track.
The distance between one foot and the next when walking; a pace.
The distance covered by a step
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The sound of a step of someone walking
Used this way, footstep 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 heard footsteps on the porch.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “footstep on …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: footstep on …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use footstep
- “He heard footsteps on the porch.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Sanicle of northwestern United States and British Columbia having yellow flowers.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: sound of a step of someone walking
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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.