social
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
About or belonging to or characteristic of high society.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sohshuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsoʊʃəl
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.
adjective
Relating to or belonging to or characteristic of high society
“Made fun of her being so social and high-toned.”
Relating to human society and its members
Internet
Relating to social media or social networks.
Being extroverted or outgoing.
noun
uscolloquial
A nine-digit number issued to citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents by the Social Security Administration under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 405(c)(2), introduced primarily to track people for taxation purposes, and in recent years serving as a de facto national identification number.
A festive gathering to foster introductions.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Relating to or belonging to or characteristic of high society
Used this way, social is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Made fun of her being so social and high-toned.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- 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 social
- “Made fun of her being so social and high-toned.”adjective
- “A human being is a social animal.”adjective
- “Social institutions.”adjective
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A political advocate of socialism.
A political theory advocating state ownership of industry.
By or with respect to society.
Take part in social activities.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Dancing as part of a social occasion.
The belief in a gradual transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means.
A political party in Germany and Britain (and elsewhere) founded in late 19th century.
The commission of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations that is concerned with social development.
A communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact.
Someone who drinks liquor repeatedly in small quantities.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The act of meeting for social purposes.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.