pioneer
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Someone who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pyuhnirSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
paɪəˈnɪɹ
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
One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.
A person or other entity who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.
A member of any of several European organizations advocating abstinence from alcohol.
A planning area in the West Region of Singapore.
singapore
A person born on or before 31 December 1949 and possessing Singapore citizenship on or before 31 December 1986, given this status and certain benefits to recognise their contributions to Singapore's early development.
singapore
Alternative letter-case form of Pioneer ("A Singaporean born on or before 31 December 1949, who is entitled to various healthcare and social support schemes.").
verb
transitive
To be the first to do or achieve (something), preparing the way for others to follow.
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: One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.
Used this way, pioneer 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
- Matter-of-fact
- 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 pioneer
- “This South African surgeon pioneered heart transplants.”verb
- “They went west as pioneers with only the possessions they could carry with them.”noun
- “She pioneered a graduate program for women students.”verb
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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.