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radiate

verb · adjective

Simple meaning

Issue or emerge in rays or waves.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

raydeeuht

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹeɪdiət

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. Issue or emerge in rays or waves

    “Heat radiated from the metal box.”

  2. transitive

    To emit rays or waves.

  3. Send out rays or waves

  4. Send out real or metaphoric rays

  5. intransitive

    To come out or proceed in rays or waves.

  6. Extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center

    “Spokes radiate from the hub of the wheel.”

adjective

  1. Radiating from a center; having rays or parts diverging from a center; radiated.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Issue or emerge in rays or waves

Used this way, radiate is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“Heat radiated from the metal box.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
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.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Issue / emitverb

    “Heat radiated from the metal box.”

  • Extendverb

    “Spokes radiate from the hub of the wheel.”

More ways to use radiate

  • “Heat radiated from the metal box.”verb
  • “Spokes radiate from the hub of the wheel.”verb
  • “The sun radiates heat.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

radiate heatradiate energyradiate throughradiate awayradiate outwards

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • radiatornounPerson or profession

    Any object that radiates energy.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • radiationnounRelated term

    Energy that is radiated or transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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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.