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roundabout

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rownduhbowt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹaʊndəbaʊt

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

  1. A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island

  2. chiefly british

    A horizontal wheel which rotates around a central axis when pushed and on which children ride, often found in parks as a children's play apparatus.

  3. A large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement

  4. A fairground carousel.

  5. A short, close-fitting coat or jacket worn by men or boys, especially in the 19th century.

  6. A detour.

adjective

  1. Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.

  2. Encircling; enveloping; comprehensive.

verb

  1. To play on a roundabout (carousel)

  2. To travel round roundabouts

  3. To talk in a roundabout, indirect manner

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island

Used this way, roundabout 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

Nearby words

  • traffic circle , rarer, so it draws attention

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.

roundabout waysroundabout routeroundabout methodroundabout papersroundabout fashionroundabout mannerroundabout courseroundabout process

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • roundabout waynounCompound term

    A roundabout road (especially one that is used temporarily while a main route is blocked).

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island

rotarytraffic circleRarecircle

adjective

Sense: indirect or circuitous or or circumlocutionary

deviousArchaic

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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.