irradiate
verb · adjective
Simple meaning
To send out in the form of rays.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihraydeeaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪˈɹeɪdieɪt
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
transitive
To send out (heat, light, or some other form of radiation) in the form of rays; to radiate.
transitive
To send out (something) as if in the form of rays; to diffuse, to radiate, to shed.
transitivetechnology
To apply radiation other than visible light to (someone or something).
transitive
To treat (food) with ionizing radiation to destroy pathogens.
Expose to radiation
transitivemedicine
To treat (a patient, or a cancerous growth or tumour) with radiation.
adjective
figurative
Made splendid or wonderful.
Made brilliant or bright; irradiated, illuminated.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To send out (heat, light, or some other form of radiation) in the form of rays; to radiate.
Used this way, irradiate 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.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to send out (heat or light
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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.