speed
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
speedIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspid
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
The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
mathematicsphysics
The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.
photography
The sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
A minor city in Phillips County, Kansas.
A place in the United States
verb
Move very fast
“The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed.”
To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.
transitive
To increase the rate at which something occurs.
To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.
intransitiveslang
To be under the influence of stimulant drugs, especially amphetamines.
intransitive
To exceed the speed limit.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.
Used this way, speed is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Mathematics
- Geometry
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
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.
More ways to use speed
- “The project advanced with gratifying speed.”noun
- “The runner zipped past us at breakneck speed.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Changing location rapidly.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An ice skate with a long blade.
An ice-skater who races competitively.
Competitive skating on speed skates (usually around an oval course).
A trap arranged on a roadway for catching speeders.
Move faster.
The speed at which light travels in a vacuum.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Road where high speed driving is allowed.
The act of accelerating.
A meter fixed to a vehicle that measures and displays its speed.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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.