glaucoma
noun
Simple meaning
An eye disease that damages the optic nerve and impairs vision.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
glawkohmuhSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɡlɔˈkoʊmə
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
pathology
An eye disease that damages the optic nerve and impairs vision (sometimes progressing to blindness)
“Contrary to popular belief, glaucoma is not always caused by elevated intraocular pressure.”
pathology
An eye disease or disorder that is defined as a characteristic optic neuropathy, or disease of the optic nerve, possibly, if untreated, leading to damage of the optic disc of the eye and resultant visual field loss due to lack of communication between the retina and the brain, which can lead to blindness.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: An eye disease that damages the optic nerve and impairs vision (sometimes progressing to blindness)
Used this way, glaucoma is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
“Contrary to popular belief, glaucoma is not always caused by elevated intraocular pressure.”
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use glaucoma
- “Contrary to popular belief, glaucoma is not always caused by elevated intraocular pressure.”noun
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Glaucoma in which the iris blocks the outflow of aqueous humor.
Glaucoma caused by blockage of the canal of Schlemm.
Glaucoma in which the iris blocks the outflow of aqueous humor.
Glaucoma that results from damage to the optic nerve although the intraocular pressure is normal.
Glaucoma caused by blockage of the canal of Schlemm.
Glaucoma in which the iris blocks the outflow of aqueous humor.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- ophthalmologynoun
- cataractnoun
- ocularadjective
- retinaladjective
- opticadjective
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “glaucoma” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.