korean
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Official language of the people residing on the Korean Peninsula, and language of about 60 million people, in Asia, North America.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kawreeuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kɔˈɹiən
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
uncountable
Official language of the people residing on the Korean Peninsula, and language of approximately 60 million people, in Asia, North America, and elsewhere.
The Altaic language spoken by Koreans
countable
A native or resident in North Korea or South Korea, or a person of Korean descent.
A native or inhabitant of Korea who speaks the Korean language
adjective
Of or relating to the Asian Peninsula comprising North Korea and South Korea.
Of or relating to or characteristic of Korea or its people or language
Of or relating to the Korean language.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Official language of the people residing on the Korean Peninsula, and language of approximately 60 million people, in Asia, North America, and elsewhere.
Used this way, korean is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use korean
- “The restaurant serves delicious Korean food, especially the kimchi.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Lawn grass common in China and Japan.
Annual native to Korea but widely cultivated for forage and hay in hot dry regions.
An Asian peninsula (off Manchuria) separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan.
A strait between Korea and Japan.
Asiatic creeping perennial grass.
A war between North and South Korea.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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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.