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stalemate

noun · verb

Simple meaning

The state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves, resulting in a draw.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

staylmayt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsteɪlmeɪt

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. chess

    The state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves, resulting in a draw.

  2. Any kind of match in which neither contestant laid claim to victory; a draw.

  3. figurativelyby extension

    Any situation that has no obvious possible movement, but involves no personal loss.

verb

  1. Subject to a stalemate

  2. transitivefiguratively

    To bring about a stalemate, in which no advance in an argument is achieved.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (chess) The state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves, resulting in a draw.

Used this way, stalemate is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.

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

  • Law/legal
  • Government/politics
  • Academic writing

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.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

political stalematemilitary stalematenuclear stalematebloody stalematestrategic stalematepresent stalematehurting stalematelong stalemate

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves

deadlock

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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.