revoke
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Fail to follow suit when able and required to do so.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihvohkSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈvoʊk
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
Fail to follow suit when able and required to do so
intransitive
To fail to follow suit in a game of cards when holding a card in that suit.
transitive
To cancel or invalidate by withdrawing or reversing.
Cancel officially
“He revoked the ban on smoking.”
noun
The act of revoking in a game of cards.
A renege; a violation of important rules regarding the play of tricks in trick-taking card games serious enough to render the round invalid.
A violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, with the status of a more minor offense only because, when it happens, it is usually accidental.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Fail to follow suit when able and required to do so
Used this way, revoke is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Critical but measured
Nearby words
- countermand , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use revoke
- “He revoked the ban on smoking.”verb
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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.