involve
verb
Simple meaning
To include someone or something as a part.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnvahlvSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnˈvɑlv
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
To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include.
To cause or engage (someone or something) to become connected or implicated, or to participate, in some activity or situation.
Engage as a participant
“Don't involve me in your family affairs!”
specifically
To include (something) as a logical or natural, or necessary component, or consequence or effect of something else; to entail, to imply.
Contain as a part
“Dinner at Joe's always involves at least six courses.”
figuratively
To entangle, intertwine, or mingle (something with one or more other things, or several things together); especially, to entangle (someone or something) in a confusing or troublesome situation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To have (something) as a component or a related part; to comprise, to include.
Used this way, involve 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.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Engageverb
“Don't involve me in your family affairs!”
Containverb
“Dinner at Joe's always involves at least six courses.”
More ways to use involve
- “Don't involve me in your family affairs!”verb
- “Dinner at Joe's always involves at least six courses.”verb
- “His story completely involved me during the entire afternoon.”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.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Connected by participation or association or use.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The act of sharing in the activities of a group.
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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.