prostrate
verb · adjective
Simple meaning
Throw down flat, as on the ground.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahstraytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑstɹeɪt
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.
verb
Throw down flat, as on the ground
often reflexive
To lie flat or face-down.
also figurative
To throw oneself down in submission.
To cause to lie down, to flatten.
figuratively
To overcome or overpower.
adjective
Lying flat, face-down.
Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease.
figuratively
Emotionally devastated.
Word at a Glance
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Throw down flat, as on the ground
Used this way, prostrate 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
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- prone , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: lying flat or face-down
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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.