prom
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahmIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑm
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
US
A formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year
us
A formal ball held at a high school or college on special occasions; e.g., near the end of the academic year.
british
A promenade concert.
Britishabbreviation
A promenade.
Former name of Pyay, Myanmar.
verb
intransitiveinformal
To attend a prom.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year
Used this way, prom is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in academic writing and education or classroom contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prom
- “They bought new outfits for the high school prom.”
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “prom” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.