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future

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

The time ahead.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fyoocher

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfjutʃɚ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.

  2. The time yet to come

  3. The likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come.

  4. Something that will happen in moments yet to come.

  5. Goodness in what is yet to come. Something to look forward to.

adjective

  1. Having to do with or occurring in the future.

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 time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.

Used this way, future 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

Nearby words

  • future tense , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

future lifefuture researchsome futurefuture developmentfuture workfuture statefuture use

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • futuristnounPerson or profession

    A theologian who believes that the Scripture prophecies of the Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation) will be fulfilled in the future.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • futures contractnounCompound term

    An agreement to buy or sell a specific amount of a commodity or financial instrument at a particular price on a stipulated future date.

  • futures exchangenounCompound term

    A commodity exchange where futures contracts are traded.

  • futures marketnounCompound term

    A commodity exchange where futures contracts are traded.

  • future tensenounCompound term

    A verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future.

  • future progressive tensenounCompound term

    A progressive tense used to express action that will be on-going in the future.

  • future progressivenounCompound term

    A progressive tense used to express action that will be on-going in the future.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: having to do with or occurring in the future

risinglaterprospectivehereafterArchaic

Antonyms

Sense: time ahead

past

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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.