observation
noun
Simple meaning
The act of observing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ahbzervayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɑbzɚˈveɪʃən
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
The act of observing; taking a patient look
The act of observing, and the fact of being observed.
The act of making and recording a measurement
A judgement based on observing.
Performance of what is prescribed; adherence in practice; observance.
A regime under which a subject is routinely observed.
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: The act of observing; taking a patient look
Used this way, observation is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- 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
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- reflexion , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use observation
- “He reported his observations to the mayor.”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.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses.
The act of observing.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings.
Lookout consisting of a dome-shaped observatory.
An elevated post affording a wide view.
A station set up for making observations of something.
An observation made with a radio telescope.
One of a network of observation posts where meteorological data is recorded.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Fire for which the point of impact (the burst) can be seen by an observer.
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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.