grab bag
noun
Simple meaning
A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn unseen.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
grabagSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɹæbæɡ
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
A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen.
A gift, purchase, etc. whose contents are concealed until after a selection is made; a bag as gift that comprises mystery prizes.
figurative
Any random assortment, selection or possibility.
A bag containing essential items, which can be easily picked up and taken in an emergency.
A moderately large bag of crisps or other snack, suitable for sharing.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A bag from which a gift or prize may be withdrawn (grabbed) unseen.
Used this way, grab bag 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.
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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.