playback
noun
Simple meaning
Reproducing recorded sound.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
playbakSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpleɪbæk
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 act of reproducing recorded sound
“He was allowed to hear the playback of his testimony.”
The replaying of something previously recorded, especially sound or moving images.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of reproducing recorded sound
Used this way, playback is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
“He was allowed to hear the playback of his testimony.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “playback of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: playback of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use playback
- “He was allowed to hear the playback of his testimony.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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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.