jackal
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
jakuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʒækəl
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.
noun
Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
A person who performs menial or routine tasks; a dogsbody.
verb
To perform menial or routine tasks
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
Used this way, jackal is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- 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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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.