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propose

verb

Simple meaning

To ask for a person's hand in marriage.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pruhpohz

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

pɹəˈpoʊz

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.

verb

  1. transitive

    To suggest a plan, course of action, etc.

  2. intransitivesometimes followed by to

    To ask for a person's hand in marriage.

  3. transitive

    To intend.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (intransitive, sometimes followed by to) To ask for a person's hand in marriage.

Used this way, propose is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in family or home 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

  • Family/home

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

More ways to use propose

  • “The senator proposed to abolish the sales tax.”verb
  • “He proposed a new plan for dealing with terrorism.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

government proposenow proposetherefore proposepropose amendments

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • proposernounInflected form

    Someone who advances a suggestion or proposal.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • proposalnounDerived noun

    Something proposed (such as a plan or assumption).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to suggest a plan or course of action

offer

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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.