retardation
noun
Simple meaning
The extent to which something is delayed or held back.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reetahrdayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹitɑɹˈdeɪʃən
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.
noun
The act of retarding or delaying; hindrance.
The extent to which anything is retarded; the result of any retarding or delay; mental, social, or physical slowness.
The extent to which something is delayed or held back
Any agent that retards or delays or hinders
music
The act of diminishing the rate of speed.
That which retards; an obstacle; an obstruction.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of retarding or delaying; hindrance.
Used this way, retardation 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.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Retarding / agent
Lack
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Lack of normal development of intellectual capacities.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.