sheep
noun
Simple meaning
Woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sheepIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃip
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
Woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
countablechiefly christianitychiefly plural
A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community.
countable
A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
countable
A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
uncountable
Sheepskin leather.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
Used this way, sheep 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 sheep
- “His students followed him like sheep.”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.
Mostly of Central America.
Larvae are parasitic on sheep.
Wingless fly that is an external parasite on sheep and cattle.
North American dwarf shrub resembling mountain laurel but having narrower leaves and small red flowers.
A pen for sheep.
Perennial prostrate mat-forming herb with hoary woolly foliage.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on.
Any of various usually long-haired breeds of dog reared to herd and guard sheep.
Cultivated for sheep pasturage in upland regions or used as a lawn grass.
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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.