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seek

verb

Simple meaning

To try to find or get something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

seek
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsik

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.

verb

  1. ambitransitive

    Try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of

  2. ambitransitive

    To try to find; to look for; to search for.

  3. transitive

    To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at.

  4. Try to get or reach

  5. transitive

    To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.

  6. transitive

    To ask for; to solicit; to beseech.

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: Try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of

Used this way, seek 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
No strong connotation
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.

seek refuge

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • search

    Try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of.

  • assay

    To try, attempt (to do something).

  • essay

    To attempt or try.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • seekingnounInflected form

    The act of searching for something.

  • seekernounInflected form

    Someone making a search or inquiry.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • seek outverbCompound term

    Look for a specific person or thing.

  • seek timenounCompound term

    The time it takes for a read/write head to move to a specific data track.

  • north-seeking polenounCompound term

    The pole of a magnet that points toward the north when the magnet is suspended freely.

  • pleasure seekernounCompound term

    Someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures.

  • rent-seekingnounCompound term

    The theory that a person or firm seeks to make money by manipulating the economic environment rather than by making a profit through production or trade.

  • self-seekernounCompound term

    A person who places expediency above principle.

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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.