opening
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
An act or instance of making or becoming open.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohpuhningSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊpənɪŋ
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
An act or instance of making or becoming open.
“The ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door.”
An act or instance of beginning.
The first performance (as of a theatrical production)
“The opening received good critical reviews.”
A recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess
“He memorized all the important chess openings.”
The initial period when an art exhibition, fashion show, etc. is first opened, especially the first evening.
The first performance of a show or play by a particular troupe.
adjective
Pertaining to the start or beginning of a series of events.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An act or instance of making or becoming open.
Used this way, opening 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 ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “opening of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: opening of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Act or instancenoun
“The ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door.”
Firstnoun
“The opening received good critical reviews.”
Recognizednoun
“He memorized all the important chess openings.”
More ways to use opening
- “The ray of light revealed his cautious opening of the door.”noun
- “They left a small opening for the cat at the bottom of the door.”noun
- “There is an opening in the sales department.”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.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Cause to open or to become open.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The first event in a series.
Without obstructions to passage or view.
In an open way.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The first of a series of actions.
The first performance (as of a theatrical production).
The first line of a piece of writing (as a newspaper story).
A recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess.
An opening in a garment for the neck of the wearer.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.