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politically correct

adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Stereotypically left-wing; possessing or conforming to stereotypical left-wing social views.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

puhlitihkuhleekerekt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

pəˈlɪtɪkəlikɚɛkt

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. idiomaticpoliticsderogatory

    Stereotypically left-wing; possessing or conforming to stereotypical left-wing social views.

  2. idiomaticsometimes derogatory

    Sensitive to giving offense on the grounds of race, sex, etc.

  3. politics

    Possessing or conforming to the correct political positions; following the official policies of the government or a political party.

verb

  1. transitive

    To modify in a way that conforms more to the official position of a government or political party.

  2. transitive

    To modify in a way that is considered more respectful to minorities.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (idiomatic, politics, derogatory) Stereotypically left-wing; possessing or conforming to stereotypical left-wing social views.

Used this way, politically correct is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Government/politics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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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.