revolution

noun

Simple meaning

A drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rehvuhlooshuhn

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹɛvəˈluʃən

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

A drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving
“The industrial revolution was also a cultural revolution.”
countablepolitics
A political upheaval in a government or state characterized by great change.
A sudden, vast change in a situation, a discipline, or the way of thinking and behaving.
countablepolitics
The popular removal and replacement of a government, especially by sudden violent action.
Rotation: the turning of an object around an axis, one complete turn of an object during rotation.
A round of periodic changes, such as between the seasons of the year.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving

Used this way, revolution is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence

“The industrial revolution was also a cultural revolution.”

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: 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.

More ways to use revolution

“The industrial revolution was also a cultural revolution.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

cultural revolutiongreen revolutionsocial revolutionsocialist revolutionworld revolution

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

revolutionaryadjectiveDerived adjective
Of or relating to or characteristic or causing an axial or orbital turn.
revolutionizeverbDerived verb
Change radically.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

revolutions per minutenounCompound term
Rate of revolution of a motor.
cuban revolutionnounCompound term
The revolution led by Fidel Castro and a small band of guerrilla fighters against a corrupt dictatorship in Cuba.
cultural revolutionnounCompound term
A radical reform in China initiated by Mao Zedong in 1965 and carried out largely by the Red Guard.
ellipsoid of revolutionnounCompound term
A shape that is generated by rotating an ellipse around one of its axes.
february revolutionnounCompound term
The revolution against the czarist government which led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government in March 1917.
french revolutionnounCompound term
The revolution in France against the Bourbons.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

revolutionary groupnounRelated term
A political unit organized to promote revolution.

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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.