hardwood
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
As the preceding, but limited to those that are commercial timbers, and are at least average in hardness.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hahrdwuudSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhɑɹdwʊd
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
countablein more general use
As the preceding, but limited to those that are commercial timbers, and are at least average in hardness.
uncountable
A joint term for the commercial timbers, without distinguishing which.
countablemostly in botany and forestry
The wood from any dicotyledonous tree, without regard to its hardness.
The wood of broad-leaved dicotyledonous trees (as distinguished from the wood of conifers)
adjective
of a floor
Made of interlocking hardwood boards.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (in more general use) As the preceding, but limited to those that are commercial timbers, and are at least average in hardness.
Used this way, hardwood 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 hardwood
- “We installed beautiful hardwood floors in the living room.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: as the preceding
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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.