status
noun
Simple meaning
The relative position or standing of things or usually persons in a society.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
statuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstætəs
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 relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society
“He had the status of a minor.”
A person's condition, position or standing relative to that of others.
A situation or state of affairs.
Prestige or high standing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society
Used this way, status is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He had the status of a minor.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “status of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: status of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use status
- “Superstition is highly correlated with economic status.”noun
- “He had the status of a minor.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Statues collectively.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A condition in which there are continuing attacks of epilepsy without intervals of consciousness.
The existing state of affairs.
A drive to acquire power.
A prolonged and severe asthma attack that does not respond to standard treatment.
The commission of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations that is concerned with the status of women in different societies.
A position of superior status.
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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.