outbreak
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
owtbraykSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈaʊtbɹeɪk
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 eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash, disease, etc.
figurative
An outburst or sudden eruption, especially of violence and mischief.
A sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition)
A sudden increase.
verb
intransitive
To burst out or break forth.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An eruption; the sudden appearance of a rash, disease, etc.
Used this way, outbreak is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in medicine or healthcare contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use outbreak
- “The outbreak of hostilities.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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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.