physics
noun
Simple meaning
The science of matter and energy and their interactions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fiziksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪzɪks
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 science of matter and energy and their interactions
The physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those examined or studied scientifically.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those examined or studied scientifically.
Used this way, physics is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- 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
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use physics
- “He studied the physics of radiation.”noun
- “His favorite subject was physics.”noun
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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.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A scientist trained in physics.
Involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit.
In accord with physical laws.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The academic department responsible for teaching and research in physics.
A laboratory for research in physics.
A laboratory for research in physics.
The branch of physics that studies subatomic particles and their interactions.
The branch of physics concerned with matter in its plasma phase.
The branch of physics based on quantum theory.
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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.