honor killing
noun
Simple meaning
A usually Middle Eastern and South Asian cultural practice whereby a family member, usually female, is murdered by other family members.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahnerkihlingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑnɚkɪlɪŋ
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 typically Middle Eastern and South Asian cultural practice whereby a family member, usually female, is murdered by other family members, the act being justified as retribution for a (usually sexual) slight upon the family's honour.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A typically Middle Eastern and South Asian cultural practice whereby a family member, usually female, is murdered by other family members, the act being justified as retribution for a (usually sexual) slight upon the family's honour.
Used this way, honor killing is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It turns up most in family or home contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Family/home
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.