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inquire

verb

Simple meaning

Address a question to and expect an answer from.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihnkwyr

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnkˈwaɪɹ

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.

verb

  1. Conduct an inquiry or investigation of

  2. intransitive

    To make an inquiry or an investigation.

  3. intransitiveUSCanadaAustralia

    To ask (about something).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Conduct an inquiry or investigation of

Used this way, inquire 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
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

inquire afternow inquireinquire further

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • inquirernounInflected form

    Someone who asks a question.

  • inquiringadjectiveInflected form

    Given to inquiry.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • inquirynounDerived noun · specialist

    A search for knowledge.

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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.