significance
noun
Simple meaning
A meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhgnifihkuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
səɡˈnɪfɪkəns
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 meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
“The significance of his remark became clear only later.”
The extent to which something matters; importance
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
Used this way, significance is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The significance of his remark became clear only later.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “significance of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: significance of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use significance
- “As a juror your opinion is of great significance for the outcome of the trial.”noun
- “Do not underestimate the significance of nuclear power.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
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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.