staunch
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Staying true to one's aims or principles.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
stawnchIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstɔntʃ
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
figuratively
Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
figuratively
Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
by extension
Impermeable to air or other gases; airtight.
figurativelychiefly hunting
Of a hunting dog: that can be depended on to pick up the scent of, or to mark, game.
noun
A floodgate by which water is accumulated, for floating a boat over a shallow part of a stream by its release; also, a dam or lock in a river.
verb
To stop the flow of (water or some other liquid).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
Used this way, staunch 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
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately 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 staunch
- “Staunch the blood flow.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.