residuary
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
About a will, about the portion of an estate which was not disposed of in the will.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihzijoouhreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈzɪdʒuɛɹi
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.
adjective
law
With respect to a will, relating to the portion of an estate which was not disposed of in the will, or for which the directions in the will could not be carried out.
Of or relating to a residue; residual; left over, when the main portion has been removed.
Relating to or indicating a remainder
Entitled to the residue of an estate (after payment of debts and specific gifts)
noun
One who receives the residue of an estate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: With respect to a will, relating to the portion of an estate which was not disposed of in the will, or for which the directions in the will could not be carried out.
Used this way, residuary is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use residuary
- “The residuary part of the estate.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to With respect to a will, relating to the portion of an estate which was not disposed of in the will, or for which the directions in the will could not be carried out.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: with respect to a will
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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.