leapfrog
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Advancing as if in the child's game, by leaping over obstacles or competitors.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
leepfrawgSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlipfɹɔɡ
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
games
Advancing as if in the child's game, by leaping over obstacles or competitors
“The company still believes the chip is a leapfrog in integration and will pay huge dividends.”
games
A game in which one child bends down and another leaps over
games
A game, often played by children, in which a player leaps like a frog over the back of another person who has stooped over. One variation of the game involves a number of people lining up in a row and bending over. The last person in the line then vaults forward over each of the others until they reach the front of the line, whereupon they also bend over. The process is then repeated.
verb
Jump across
Progress by large jumps instead of small increments
transitive
To overtake.
transitive
To jump over some obstacle, as in the game of leapfrog.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Advancing as if in the child's game, by leaping over obstacles or competitors
Used this way, leapfrog is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in family or home contexts.
“The company still believes the chip is a leapfrog in integration and will pay huge dividends.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Family/home
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “leapfrog in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: leapfrog in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use leapfrog
- “The company still believes the chip is a leapfrog in integration and will pay huge dividends.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.