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prize

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pryz
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɹaɪz

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.

noun

  1. An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort.

  2. Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in prospect.

  3. That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power.

  4. That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery.

  5. A lever; a pry; also, the hold of a lever.

adjective

  1. First-rate; exceptional.

  2. Having won a prize; award-winning.

verb

  1. Regard highly; think much of

  2. To consider highly valuable; to esteem.

  3. To move with a lever; to force up or open; to prise or pry.

  4. To move or force, especially in an effort to get something open

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: An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort.

Used this way, prize is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
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 prize

  • “The prize was a free trip to Europe.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Honour / contest

prize winner

Goods

prize money

First

first prize

Other combinations

prize courtconsolation prizesecond prizeprize essaygreat prize

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • prize winnernounCompound term

    The winner of a lottery.

  • prize ringnounCompound term

    A square ring where boxers fight.

  • prize fightnounCompound term

    A boxing match between professional boxers for a cash prize.

  • prize moneynounCompound term

    Any money given as a prize.

  • nobel prizenounCompound term

    An annual award for outstanding contributions to chemistry or physics or physiology and medicine or literature or economics or peace.

  • booby prizenounCompound term

    A prize given to one who finishes last in a contest.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: honour

primerespect

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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.