moth
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mawthIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɔθ
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
Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
Typically crepuscular or nocturnal insect having a stout body and feathery or hairlike antennae
figurative
Anything that gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.
A moth bean plant (Vigna aconitifolia).
irelandslang
A girlfriend.
verb
intransitive
To hunt for moths.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any flying insect of the order Lepidoptera not in the superfamily Papilionoidea, most species of which are nocturnal and can be distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
Used this way, moth is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
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.
A woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
East Indian legume having hairy foliage and small yellow flowers followed by cylindrical pods.
Any of various moths that have powdery wings.
European mullein with smooth leaves and large yellow or purplish flowers.
Any of various orchids of the genus Phalaenopsis having often drooping glossy broad obovate or oval leaves usually dark green flushed purple or mottled grey and silver.
Any of various orchids of the genus Phalaenopsis having often drooping glossy broad obovate or oval leaves usually dark green flushed purple or mottled grey and silver.
North American silkworm moth.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “moth” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.