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rainbow

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

An arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

raynboh

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹeɪnboʊ

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.

noun

  1. An arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain

  2. A multicoloured arch in the sky, produced by prismatic refraction of light within droplets of rain in the air.

  3. Any prismatic refraction of light showing a spectrum of colours.

  4. often used with "of"

    A wide assortment; a varied multitude.

  5. A member of the Rainbow Guides, a Girl Guide movement for younger girls.

  6. figurative

    An illusion; a mirage.

adjective

  1. attributive

    LGBT.

  2. attributivechiefly us

    Made up of several races or ethnicities, or (more broadly) of several cultural or ideological factions.

  3. Multicolored, especially if in rainbow order.

verb

  1. transitive

    To brighten with, or as with, a rainbow; to pattern with the colours of the rainbow.

  2. intransitive

    To take the appearance of a rainbow.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain

Used this way, rainbow 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
Matter-of-fact
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 rainbow

  • “A beautiful rainbow appeared after the afternoon rain shower.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Arc / multicoloured

rainbow colors

Rainbow trout

rainbow trout

Other combinations

rainbow bridgerainbow coalitionrainbow serpentdouble rainbowrainbow warriorrainbow division

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • rainbow cactusnounCompound term

    A stout cylindrical cactus of the southwest United States and adjacent Mexico.

  • rainbow fishnounCompound term

    Small freshwater fish of South America and the West Indies.

  • rainbow lorikeetnounCompound term

    A kind of lorikeet.

  • rainbow perchnounCompound term

    Pacific coast fish.

  • rainbow pinknounCompound term

    Chinese pink with deeply toothed rose-lilac flowers with a purplish eye.

  • rainbow runnernounCompound term

    Streamlined cigar-shaped jack.

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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.