lilac
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A soft, pale purple color.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lylakSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlaɪlæk
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 soft, pale purple color.
A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.
A flower of the lilac shrub.
A cat having a lilac-colored (pale brown) coat.
adjective
Having a pale purple colour.
Of a cat or its fur: having a pale brown colour, lighter than chocolate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: a soft, pale purple color.
Used this way, lilac 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.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large European lilac naturalized in North America having heart-shaped ovate leaves and large panicles of highly fragrant lilac or white flowers.
Robust upright shrub of mountains of northern India having oblong-elliptic leaves and pale lilac or white malodorous flowers.
Central European upright shrub having elliptic leaves and upright clusters of lilac or deep violet flowers.
Lilac of northern China having ovate leaves and profuse early summer rose-lilac flowers.
Small tree of Japan having narrow pointed leaves and creamy-white flowers.
Tree of northern India and China having purple blossoms and small inedible yellow fruits.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.