hat
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hatIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhæt
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
An informal term for a person's role
“He took off his politician's hat and talked frankly.”
clothing
A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.
figuratively
A particular role or capacity that a person might fill.
figuratively
Any receptacle from which names or numbers are pulled out in a lottery.
figurativelyby extension
The lottery or draw itself.
verb
Put on or wear a hat
Furnish with a hat
transitive
To place a hat on.
intransitive
To shop for hats.
transitive
To appoint as cardinal.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (clothing) A covering for the head, often in the approximate form of a cone, dome or cylinder closed at its top end, and sometimes having a brim and other decoration.
Used this way, hat 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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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.