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leading

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Going or proceeding or going in advance.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

leeding

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlidɪŋ

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.

adjective

  1. Going or proceeding or going in advance; showing the way

    “We rode in the leading car.”

  2. Providing guidance or direction.

  3. Ranking first.

  4. Occurring in advance; preceding.

noun

  1. An act by which one is led or guided.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Going or proceeding or going in advance; showing the way

Used this way, leading is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“We rode in the leading car.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
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 leading

  • “We rode in the leading car.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

leading edgeleading roleleading part

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • leadverbBase word

    Take somebody somewhere.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • leadernounPerson or profession

    A person who rules or guides or inspires others.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • leading astraynounCompound term

    The act of enticing others into sinful ways.

  • leading edgenounCompound term

    Forward edge of an airfoil.

  • leading indicatornounCompound term

    One of 11 indicators for different sections of the economy.

  • leading ladynounCompound term

    Actress who plays the leading female role.

  • leading lightnounCompound term

    A celebrity who is an inspiration to others.

  • leading mannounCompound term

    Actor who plays the leading male role.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • leadershipnounRelated term

    The activity of leading.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: going or proceeding or going in advance

directing

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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.