punctuated equilibrium
noun
Simple meaning
A theory of evolution, holding that evolutionary change tends to be having long periods of stability, or equilibrium, punctuated by episodes of very fast development.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
puhngkchooaytihdeekwuhlihbreeuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpʌŋktʃueɪtɪdikwəlɪbɹiəm
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
A theory of evolution, holding that evolutionary change tends to be characterized by long periods of stability, or equilibrium, punctuated by episodes of very fast development.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A theory of evolution, holding that evolutionary change tends to be characterized by long periods of stability, or equilibrium, punctuated by episodes of very fast development.
Used this way, punctuated equilibrium is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in academic writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.