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lord

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A noble man with high rank, or someone in control

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lawrd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlɔɹd

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.

noun

  1. A titled peer of the realm

  2. A peer of the realm, particularly a temporal one

  3. One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)

  4. One possessing similar mastery over others; (historical) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign ruler; in Scotland, a male member of the lowest rank of nobility (the equivalent rank in England is baron)

  5. A formal title of the lesser British nobility, used for a lord of the manor or Lord Proprietor.

  6. The Abrahamic deity of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths.

verb

  1. transitive

    To invest with the dignity, power, and privileges of a lord; to grant the title of lord.

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: One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)

Used this way, lord 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.

Formal / additional

lord chancellorlord mayor

Possessing

lord godfirst lord

Other combinations

lord northlord jesusgood lordlord john

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • lordshipnounDerived noun

    A title used to address any British peer except a duke and extended to a bishop or a judge.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lord high chancellornounCompound term

    The highest officer of the Crown who is head of the judiciary and who presides in the House of Lords.

  • lord it oververbCompound term

    Act like the master of.

  • lord of misrulenounCompound term

    A person appointed master of revels at a Christmas celebration.

  • lord privy sealnounCompound term

    The senior cabinet minister in the British Cabinet who has no official duties.

  • lords-and-ladiesnounCompound term

    Common European arum with lanceolate spathe and short purple spadix.

  • lords spiritualnounCompound term

    The clergy in France and the heads of the church in Britain.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: titled peer of the realm

lady

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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.