shining path
noun · n
Simple meaning
A terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shynihngpathSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃaɪnɪŋpæθ
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 terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru; is among the most ruthless guerilla organizations in the world; seeks to destroy Peruvian institutions and replace them with a Maoist peasant regime; is involved in the cocaine trade
n
The Shining Path, self-named the Communist Party of Peru (abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A terrorist group formed in Peru in the late 1960s as a splinter group from the communist party of Peru; is among the most ruthless guerilla organizations in the world; seeks to destroy Peruvian institutions and replace them with a Maoist peasant regime; is involved in the cocaine trade
Used this way, shining path is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.