inward
adjective · adverb
Simple meaning
Situated on the inside.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
inwerdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɪnwɚd
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.
adjective
Situated on the inside; that is within, inner; belonging to the inside.
Not superficially obvious, inner, not expressed, especially relating to mental or spiritual faculties as opposed to external ones.
Moving or tending toward the inside.
adverb
Towards one's mind, thoughts, or internal self.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Situated on the inside; that is within, inner; belonging to the inside.
Used this way, inward 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.
More ways to use inward
- “A concern with inward reflections.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Of or situated on the inside.
Being or occurring (farther) inside, situated farther in, located (situated) or happening on the inside of something,….
Implanted within the body.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
With respect to private feelings.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.