latex
noun
Simple meaning
A milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
layteksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈleɪtɛks
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
A milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air
The milky sap of several trees that coagulates on exposure to air; used to make rubber.
Natural latex rubber, especially nonvulcanized rubber, such as is used in making latex gloves, latex condoms, and latex clothing.
A water-base paint that has a latex binder
An emulsion of rubber in water, used in adhesives and the like.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air
Used this way, latex is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- latex paint , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use latex
- “These gloves are made of latex, which is very flexible.”
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air
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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.