reach out
verb
Simple meaning
To try to contact someone.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reechowtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹiˈtʃaʊt
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
intransitiveoriginally businessfollowed by to
To try to contact someone, especially in order to give or get information, help, support, etc.
intransitive
To ask for help.
intransitive
To make more friends, to increase one's group of friends or acquaintances.
intransitive
To extend one's hand(s) forward; to reach for something.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (intransitive, originally business, followed by to) To try to contact someone, especially in order to give or get information, help, support, etc.
Used this way, reach out is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “reach out” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.