killer
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
That which causes stress or is extremely difficult.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kilerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɪlɚ
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
One who or that which kills.
figuratively
That which causes stress or is extremely difficult, especially that which may cause failure at a task.
figuratively
Something that is so far ahead of its competition that it effectively kills off that competition.
figuratively
A remarkably impressive person or thing.
Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
A club used for killing fish.
adjective
Causing death, destruction, or obliteration.
Distressing, uncomfortable.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: One who or that which kills.
Used this way, killer is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- 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 killer
- “Heart disease is the biggest killer in the United States.”noun
- “That exam was a real killer.”noun
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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.
An investment banker who devises strategies to make a target company less attractive for takeover.
T cell with CD8 receptor that recognizes antigens on the surface of a virus-infected cell and binds to the infected cell and kill it.
T cell with CD8 receptor that recognizes antigens on the surface of a virus-infected cell and binds to the infected cell and kill it.
Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin.
A man who takes advantage of women.
Someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short interval.
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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.