material
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Of, about, or made up of matter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhtihreeuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
məˈtɪɹiəl
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.
adjective
Of, relating to, or consisting of matter, especially physical.
Of, relating to, or affecting physical well-being; corporeal; bodily.
Relating to or concerned with what is purely physical rather than intellectual or spiritual, especially excessively so; materialistic.
Directly relevant to a matter especially a law case
“His support made a material difference.”
noun
A basic matter (as metal, wood, plastic, fiber, etc.) from which the whole or the greater part of something physical (as a machine, tool, building, fabric, etc.) is made.
Information (data or ideas or observations) that can be used or reworked into a finished form
“The archives provided rich material for a definitive biography.”
Something (as data, observations, perceptions or ideas) that may be incorporated, elaborated or otherwise reworked into a finished form or new form, or may serve as the basis for arriving at interpretations, judgments or conclusions.
Cloth to be made into a garment; woven fabric.
The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
“Coal is a hard black material.”
The elements, constituents or substance of which something physical or non-physical composed of or can be made of.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of, relating to, or consisting of matter, especially physical.
Used this way, material 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
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Directlyadjective
“His support made a material difference.”
Information / datanoun
“The archives provided rich material for a definitive biography.”
Tangiblenoun
“Coal is a hard black material.”
More ways to use material
- “The archives provided rich material for a definitive biography.”noun
- “Coal is a hard black material.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
With respect to material aspects.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Alternative names for the body of a human being.
Act of loading and unloading and moving goods within e.g. a factory especially using mechanical devices.
A witness whose testimony is both relevant to the matter at issue and required in order to resolve the matter.
Assets in the form of material possessions.
Property or belongings that are tangible.
A breach serious enough to destroy the value of the contract and to give a basis for an action for breach of contract.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A desire for wealth and material possessions with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
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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.