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headlong

adverb · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

With an unrestrained forward motion.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hehdlawng

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɛdlɔŋ

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.

adverb

  1. Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation; in haste, hastily.

  2. With an unrestrained forward motion.

  3. With the head first or down.

  4. With the head foremost

adjective

  1. Rushing forward without restraint.

  2. Plunging downwards head foremost.

  3. figuratively

    Reckless; impetuous.

  4. Precipitous.

verb

  1. transitive

    To precipitate.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation; in haste, hastily.

Used this way, headlong 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
No strong connotation
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 headlong

  • “The runner slid headlong into third base.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Head / plunging

plunged headlong

Rushing

rushed headlong

Other combinations

headlong retreatheadlong plunge

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adverb

Sense: rashly

headfirstrashly

adjective

Sense: rushing forward without restraint

forward

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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.