slate
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
A flake or piece of certain types of stone that tend to cleave into thin layers.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
slaytIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsleɪt
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
countable
A flake or piece of certain types of stone that tend to cleave into thin layers.
countableby extension
A generally rectangular piece, originally of certain types of stone and now of other materials, often in a frame, used for writing on with a thin rod of the same or another stone (a slate pencil) or with chalk; a small chalkboard.
A piece of other material used as a roofing tile.
uncountable
The bluish-grey colour of most slate (etymology 1, sense 4).
countablefigurative
A record, for example, of money owed.
countablefigurative
A range of things; also, a schedule.
adjective
Having the bluish-grey colour of slate (noun etymology 1, sense 4).
verb
transitive
To cover (a building, or part of a building such as a floor or roof) with slates (noun etymology 1, sense 1.1).
Designate or schedule
“He slated his talk for 9 AM.”
transitivechiefly USfigurative
To appoint or designate (someone or something); also, to nominate or propose (someone or something); specifically (politics), to nominate or propose (a candidate) for an office.
transitivechiefly USfigurative
To expect (something) with a (strong) degree of certainty; to anticipate, to predict.
transitivechiefly USfigurative
To plan or schedule (something).
To scold (someone) harshly; to chastise, to excoriate, to lambaste.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A flake or piece of certain types of stone that tend to cleave into thin layers.
Used this way, slate 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 slate
- “He slated his talk for 9 AM.”verb
- “He was slated for borough president.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Any of various small terrestrial isopods having a flat elliptical segmented body.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A group of people who save money in a common fund for a specific purpose (usually distributed at Christmas).
Common North American junco having grey plumage and eyes with dark brown irises.
A pencil of soft slate (or soapstone) used for writing on a slate.
A roof covered with slate.
An opportunity to start over without prejudice.
Marine isopod crustacean.
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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.