lightbulb
noun
Simple meaning
Electric lamp made up of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament that emits light when heated by electricity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lytbuhlbSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlaɪtbəlb
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
Electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated by electricity
An evacuated glass bulb containing a metal filament which is heated by electrical resistance to produce light.
singaporecolloquial
An uninvited third person joining a couple's date who prevents or hinders romantic interactions.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated by electricity
Used this way, lightbulb 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
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Electric lamp consisting of a glass bulb containing a wire filament (usually tungsten) that emits light when heated.
A light bulb whose metallic filament is heated by an electric current.
An evacuated glass bulb containing a metal filament which is heated by electrical resistance to produce light.
Artificial light using electricity as a source of illumination.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- electricaladjective
- lightnoun
- sunnoun
- lightingnoun
- factorynoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: electric lamp consisting of a transparent
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “lightbulb” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
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.