maxim
noun
Simple meaning
A precept; a succinct statement or observation of a rule of conduct or moral teaching.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
maksuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmæksəm
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 precept; a succinct statement or observation of a rule of conduct or moral teaching.
firearms
English inventor (born in the United States) who invented the Maxim gun that was used in World War I (1840-1916)
firearms
The Maxim gun, a British machine gun of various calibres used by the British army from 1889 until World War I.
Alternative letter-case form of Maxim. [A surname]
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A precept; a succinct statement or observation of a rule of conduct or moral teaching.
Used this way, maxim is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in education or classroom and ethics or values contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Clear and precise
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Where it naturally appears
- Education/classroom
- Ethics/values
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use maxim
- “She always remembered the old maxim: honesty is the best policy.”
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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.