oath
noun
Simple meaning
A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohthIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊθ
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 solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise.
A statement or promise which is strengthened (affirmed) by such a pledge.
A light, irreverent or insulting appeal to a deity or other entity.
A curse, a curse word.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise.
Used this way, oath is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in law or legal contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Formal and ceremonial
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An oath taken by physicians to observe medical ethics deriving from Hippocrates.
Criminal offense of making false statements under oath.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- affirmationnoun
- pledgeverb
- obediencenoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity
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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.