mention
verb · noun
Simple meaning
A speaking or noticing of anything, usually in a brief or cursory way.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mehnshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɛnʃən
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.
verb
To make a short reference to something.
“His name was mentioned in connection with the invention.”
Make mention of
noun
Internetplural only
A social media feed, a list of replies or posts mentioning a person.
A speaking or noticing of anything, usually in a brief or cursory manner.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To make a short reference to something.
Used this way, mention is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“His name was mentioned in connection with the invention.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “mention in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: mention in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use mention
- “Although he didn't win the prize he did get special mention.”noun
- “His name was mentioned in connection with the invention.”verb
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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.
An official recognition of merit.
Much less.
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.