front
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
The foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fruhntIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɹʌnt
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 foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.
The side of a building with the main entrance.
A person used as a cover for some questionable activity
A person or institution acting as the public face of some other, covert group.
A field of activity.
informal
An act, show, façade, persona: an intentional and false impression of oneself.
adjective
Closest or nearest, of a set of futures contracts which expire at particular times, or of the times they expire; (typically, the front month or front year is the next calendar month or year after the current one).
Located at or near the front.
verb
transitive
To face, be opposite to.
transitive
To face up to, to meet head-on, to confront.
Confront bodily
intransitiveslang
To assume false or disingenuous appearances.
transitiveslang
To deceive or attempt to deceive someone with false or disingenuous appearances (on).
(transitive or intransitive, slang, African-American Vernacular) To act cocky, disrespectful and aggressive; to confront (someone).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves.
Used this way, front 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 front
- “He walked to the front of the stage.”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.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country.
An adornment worn on the forehead.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The line along which opposing armies face each other.
A person used as a cover for some questionable activity.
Written matter preceding the main text of a book.
A porch for the front door.
A campaign in which the candidate makes speeches but does not travel.
A campaign in which the candidate makes speeches but does not travel.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The large cranial bone forming the front part of the cranium: includes the upper part of the orbits.
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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.