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independence

noun

Simple meaning

Lack of dependence.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihndihpehnduhns

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪndɪˈpɛndəns

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.

noun

  1. The quality or state of being independent; lack of dependence; the state of not being reliant on, or controlled by, others.

  2. A number of places in the United States

  3. The state of having sufficient means for a comfortable livelihood.

  4. A ghost town in Pitkin County, Colorado.

  5. A ghost town in Custer County, Oklahoma.

  6. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Independence Township.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A number of places in the United States

Used this way, independence 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
Matter-of-fact
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 independence

  • “They maintained close relations with England even after independence.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Number

american independence

Having sufficient means

complete independence

Other combinations

independence daynational independenceeconomic independenceindependence movement

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • independence hallnounCompound term

    The building in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

  • independence daynounCompound term

    A legal holiday in the United States.

  • declaration of independencenounCompound term

    The document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the Colonies from Great Britain.

  • texas independence daynounCompound term

    Texans celebrate the anniversary of Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836.

  • war of american independencenounCompound term

    The revolution of the American Colonies against Great Britain.

  • war of greek independencenounCompound term

    The Greeks rebelled against Turkish rule in 1821.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.