rift
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A narrow fissure in rock.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
riftIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɪft
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
A narrow fissure in rock
A break in the clouds, fog, mist etc., which allows light through.
A chasm or fissure.
A shallow place in a stream; a ford.
figurative
A lack of cohesion; a state of conflict, incompatibility, or emotional distance.
verb
transitive
To cleave; to rive; to split.
intransitive
To form a rift; to split open.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A narrow fissure in rock
Used this way, rift 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.
More ways to use rift
- “The sun shone through a rift in the clouds.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A valley with steep sides.
An infection common in Africa caused by a bunyavirus.
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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.