horizon
noun
Simple meaning
The range of interest or activity that can be anticipated.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hereyezuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
hɚˈaɪzən
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
The range of interest or activity that can be anticipated
“It is beyond the horizon of present knowledge.”
figuratively
The range or limit of one's knowledge, experience or interest; a boundary or threshold.
The range or limit of any dimension in which one exists.
The visible horizontal line (in all directions) where the sky appears to meet the earth in the distance.
Any level line or surface.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The range of interest or activity that can be anticipated
Used this way, horizon is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“It is beyond the horizon of present knowledge.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “horizon of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- visible horizon , rarer, so it draws attention
Natural pattern: horizon of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use horizon
- “It is beyond the horizon of present knowledge.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A navigational instrument based on a gyroscope.
Immediately below the A-horizon.
Beneath the B-horizon and above the bedrock.
The great circle on the celestial sphere whose plane passes through the sensible horizon and the center of the Earth.
A layer of rock with a particular composition (especially of fossils).
A navigational instrument based on a gyroscope.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Parallel to or in the plane of the horizon or a base line.
The maximum parallax observed when the celestial body is at the horizon.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: range of interest
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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.