honorary degree
noun
Simple meaning
A university degree given outside standard procedures, usually to people who have had an impact on the development of science, culture.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahneruhreedihgreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɑnɚɛɹidɪɡˈɹi
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 university degree given outside standard procedures, usually to people who have had an impact on the development of science, culture, education, etc. This degree can be received even by those not affiliated with the university in any way, and requires no attendance, exams, teaching time, or other prerequisites.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A university degree given outside standard procedures, usually to people who have had an impact on the development of science, culture, education, etc. This degree can be received even by those not affiliated with the university in any way, and requires no attendance, exams, teaching time, or other prerequisites.
Used this way, honorary degree is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in science and education or classroom contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Education/classroom
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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