neutral
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Neither positive nor negative.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nootruhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnutɹəl
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
physics
Neither positive nor negative; possessing no charge or equivalent positive and negative charge such that there is no imbalance.
Favoring neither the supporting nor opposing viewpoint of a topic of debate; unbiased.
politics
Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned.
Neither beneficial nor harmful.
Having no obvious colour; gray.
noun
A nonaligned state, or a member of such a state.
One who does not side with any party in a war or dispute
A person who takes no side in a dispute.
An individual or entity serving as an arbitrator or adjudicator.
uncountable
The position of a set of gears in which power cannot be transmitted to the drive mechanism.
An electrical terminal or conductor which has zero or close to zero voltage with respect to the ground.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Neither positive nor negative; possessing no charge or equivalent positive and negative charge such that there is no imbalance.
Used this way, neutral 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
- Not strongly marked
- 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.
More ways to use neutral
- “Neutral colors like black or white.”adjective
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “neutral” 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.