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john

noun

Simple meaning

A device or place to urinate and defecate: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also a chamber pot or outhouse.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

jahn
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdʒɑn

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. slangUS

    A prostitute's customer

  2. slangus

    A prostitute's client.

  3. slangus

    A device or place to urinate and defecate: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also (dated) a chamber pot or outhouse.

  4. slang

    A Western man traveling in East Asia.

  5. A male mule.

  6. informal

    Used generically for a man whose actual name may not be known.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A device or place to urinate and defecate: now usually a toilet or lavatory, but also (dated) a chamber pot or outhouse.

Used this way, john is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Very casual
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Playful
Usage feel
Playful and informal

Where it naturally appears

  • Everyday conversation
  • Social media/informal writing

Usage note

Slang: natural in speech and messages between friends, but out of place in school, work or published writing.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use john

  • “I really need to use the john before we leave for the long trip.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

sir johnlord johnsee johncaptain john

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • johnsnounPlural form

    United States artist and proponent of pop art (born in 1930).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • john barthnounCompound term

    United States novelist (born in 1930).

  • john bullnounCompound term

    A man of English descent.

  • john barleycornnounCompound term

    An alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented.

  • john doenounCompound term

    A hypothetical average man.

  • john dorynounCompound term

    European dory.

  • commodore john barry bridgenounCompound term

    A cantilever bridge in Chester, Pennsylvania.

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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.