mesa
noun
Simple meaning
Flat tableland with steep edges.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
maysuhSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmeɪsə
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
Flat tableland with steep edges
“The tribe was relatively safe on the mesa but they had to descend into the valley for water.”
Flat area of land or plateau higher than other land, with one or more clifflike edges.
electronics
A structure with components rising above the insulating substrate that surrounds it
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Flat tableland with steep edges
Used this way, mesa is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The tribe was relatively safe on the mesa but they had to descend into the valley for water.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- 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.
More ways to use mesa
- “The tribe was relatively safe on the mesa but they had to descend into the valley for water.”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.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A national park in Colorado containing prehistoric cliff dwellings.
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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.