overseas
adjective · adverb
Simple meaning
Across a sea.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohverseezSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊvɚˈsiz
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
Across a sea; to or in an area across a sea.
Abroad, especially across the sea.
Used with ethnicities, nationalities, or religious affiliations: living (being resident) in a foreign country.
adverb
Beyond or across the sea
“He lived overseas for many years.”
In a place across an ocean
Across a sea; to an area across a sea.
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: Across a sea; to or in an area across a sea.
Used this way, overseas is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use overseas
- “He lived overseas for many years.”adverb
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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.
A wedge-shaped wool or cotton cap.
A telegram sent abroad.
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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.