protected
adjective
Simple meaning
Kept safe or defended from danger or injury or loss.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhtehktuhdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəˈtɛktəd
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.
adjective
Kept safe or defended from danger or injury or loss
“The most protected spot I could find.”
programmingof a variablemethodetc.
Having the protected access modifier, indicating that a program element is accessible to subclasses but not to the program in general.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Kept safe or defended from danger or injury or loss
Used this way, protected is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
“The most protected spot I could find.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
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.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person who cares for persons or property.
Intended or adapted to afford protection of some kind.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: kept safe or defended from danger or injury
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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.