importance
noun
Simple meaning
Significance or prominence.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihmpawrtuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪmˈpɔɹtəns
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 quality of being important and worthy of note
“The importance of a well-balanced diet.”
Significance or prominence.
Something of importance.
A prominent status
Personal status or standing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The quality of being important and worthy of note
Used this way, importance is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
“The importance of a well-balanced diet.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “importance of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: importance of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use importance
- “The importance of a well-balanced diet.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone whose business involves importing goods from outside (especially from a foreign country).
The commercial activity of buying and bringing in goods from a foreign country.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: being important and worthy of note
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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.