insulate
verb
Simple meaning
To separate a body or material from others, e.g.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
insuhlaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɪnsəleɪt
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.
verb
Protect from heat, cold, or noise by surrounding with insulating material
“We had his bedroom insulated before winter came.”
To separate a body or material from others, e.g. by non-conductors to prevent the transfer of electricity, heat, etc.
To separate, detach, or isolate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Protect from heat, cold, or noise by surrounding with insulating material
Used this way, insulate is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“We had his bedroom insulated before winter came.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- 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.
More ways to use insulate
- “We had his bedroom insulated before winter came.”verb
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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.
A material such as glass or porcelain with negligible electrical or thermal conductivity.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A water-resistant adhesive tape used to insulate exposed electrical conductors.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.