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gel

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Jellylike substance used in hair styling.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

jehl
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdʒɛl

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. Jellylike substance used in hair styling

  2. Any gel intended for a particular cosmetic use, such as for styling the hair.

  3. A colloid in a more solid form than a sol

  4. A semi-solid to almost solid colloid of a solid and a liquid, such as jelly, cheese or opal.

  5. A film of flexible transparent plastic (such as acetate, celluloid, or cellophane) suitable for making superimpositions or diapositives (image to overlay on other images, especially for overhead projectors); a digital virtual equivalent of this.

  6. britishslang

    A girl.

verb

  1. Apply a styling gel to

  2. transitive

    To apply (cosmetic) gel to (the hair, etc).

  3. intransitive

    To become a gel.

  4. intransitive

    To develop a rapport.

  5. intransitivefigurative

    To come together to form something; to cohere.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Jellylike substance used in hair styling

Used this way, gel 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 gel

  • “I use hair gel to style my hair every morning.”

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: apply a styling gel to

mousse

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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.