seizure
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A sudden onset of pain or emotion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
seezherSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsiʒɚ
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 sudden onset of pain or emotion.
The act of taking of a person by force
The taking possession of something by legal process
The act of taking possession, as by force or right of law.
medicinepathology
A sudden attack or convulsion, (e.g. an epileptic seizure).
That which is seized, or taken possession of; a thing laid hold of, or possessed.
verb
informalintransitive
To experience an epileptic seizure.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A sudden onset of pain or emotion.
Used this way, seizure is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Nearby words
- ictus , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use seizure
- “He suffered an epileptic seizure.”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 dog that can alert or assist people with seizure disorders.
Convulsions accompanied by impaired consciousness.
Transitory disturbance in motor or sensory function resulting from abnormal cortical activity.
The occurrence of an abrupt, transient loss or impairment of consciousness (which is not subsequently remembered), sometimes with light twitching, fluttering eyelids, etc.
A seizure during which the patient becomes unconscious and has convulsions over the entire body.
A right guaranteed by the 4th amendment to the US Constitution.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: sudden onset of pain or emotion
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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.