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rates

noun

Form of rate , plural of rate.

Simple meaning

A local tax on property.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rayts
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹeɪts

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. A local tax on property (usually used in the plural)

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: A local tax on property (usually used in the plural)

Used this way, rates is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in finance or economics contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Finance/economics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use rates

  • “The interest rates on our savings account increased this month.”noun

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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.