prove
verb
Simple meaning
Establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
proovIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹuv
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
Establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment
transitive
To ascertain or establish the genuineness or validity of; to verify.
transitive
To demonstrate that something is true or viable; to give proof for; to bear out; to testify.
intransitive
To turn out; to manifest.
copulative
To turn out to be.
Put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to
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: Establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment
Used this way, prove 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
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use prove
- “She proved to be right.”verb
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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.
Established beyond doubt.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A former province of southeastern France.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Show one's ability or courage.
A workplace for testing new equipment or ideas.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: establish the validity of something
Antonyms
Sense: establish the validity of something
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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.