magnitude
noun
Simple meaning
The property of relative size or extent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
magnuhtoodSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmæɡnətud
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
The property of relative size or extent (whether large or small)
“They tried to predict the magnitude of the explosion.”
uncountablecountable
The absolute or relative size, extent or importance of something.
seismology
A measure of the energy released by an earthquake (e.g. on the Richter scale).
uncountable
The apparent brightness of a star, with lower magnitudes being brighter; apparent magnitude
countable
A ratio of intensity expressed as a logarithm.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The property of relative size or extent (whether large or small)
Used this way, magnitude is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“They tried to predict the magnitude of the explosion.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “magnitude of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: magnitude of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use magnitude
- “They tried to predict the magnitude of the explosion.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A relation between magnitudes.
Change in size or magnitude.
The magnitude that a star would have if it were viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs (32.62 light years) from the earth.
A logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 (a successor to the Richter scale) that enables seismologists to compare the energy released by different earthquakes on the basis of the area of the…
A degree in a continuum of size or quantity.
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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.