preference
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The selection of one thing or person over others.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prehferuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɛfɚəns
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 selection of one thing or person over others (with the main adposition being "for" in relation to the thing or person, but possibly also "of")
The state of being preferred over others.
A strong liking or personal valuation.
“My own preference is for good literature.”
The option to so select, and the one selected.
A preferential bias; partiality; discrimination.
Preferans, a card game, principally played in Eastern Europe.
verb
us
To give preferential treatment to; to give a preference to.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The selection of one thing or person over others (with the main adposition being "for" in relation to the thing or person, but possibly also "of")
Used this way, preference 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 preference
- “My own preference is for good literature.”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.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Stock whose holders are guaranteed priority in the payment of dividends but whose holders have no voting rights.
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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.