polarity
noun
Simple meaning
A relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pohlehruhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
poʊˈlɛɹəti
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
A relation between two opposite attributes or tendencies
“He viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and evil.”
The separation, alignment or orientation of something into two opposed poles.
Either of the two extremes of such attributes.
chemistry
The dipole-dipole intermolecular forces between the slightly positively-charged end of one molecule to the negative end of another or the same molecule. ᵂᵖ
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The separation, alignment or orientation of something into two opposed poles.
Used this way, polarity 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 polarity
- “He viewed it as a balanced polarity between good and evil.”noun
- “He got the polarity of the battery reversed.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A plastic film that can polarize a beam of light.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The condition of having or giving polarity.
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.