spectrum
noun
Simple meaning
A range; a continuous, infinite, one-dimensional set, possibly bounded by extremes.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spehktruhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspɛktɹəm
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 range; a continuous, infinite, one-dimensional set, possibly bounded by extremes.
psychologyeducationusually with the
The autism spectrum.
A broad range of related objects or values or qualities or ideas or activities
The image of something seen that persists after the eyes are closed.
Specifically, a range of colours representing light (electromagnetic radiation) of contiguous frequencies; hence electromagnetic spectrum, visible spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum, etc.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A range; a continuous, infinite, one-dimensional set, possibly bounded by extremes.
Used this way, spectrum 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
- Moderate
- 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 spectrum
- “The artist used the full spectrum of colors to create the vibrant painting.”
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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.