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kick off

verb

Simple meaning

To be overcome with anger, to start an argument or a fight.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kikawf

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkɪˈkɔf

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.

verb

  1. intransitiveukidiomaticcolloquial

    To be overcome with anger, to start an argument or a fight; to behave aggressively.

  2. ambitransitiveidiomaticintransitiveUKcolloquialimpersonal

    To have a fight or argument start; to fight or argue.

  3. ambitransitiveidiomatic

    To start; to launch; to set in motion.

  4. ambitransitive

    To make the first kick in a game or part of a game.

  5. intransitiveidiomatic

    To suddenly become more active.

  6. intransitiveusidiomatic

    To shut down or turn off suddenly.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To be overcome with anger, to start an argument or a fight; to behave aggressively.

Used this way, kick off is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.

Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Casual
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Casual and conversational

Where it naturally appears

  • Everyday conversation
  • Social media/informal writing

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

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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.