sterling
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
A ghost town in Jackson County.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sturlingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstɝlɪŋ
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
by extensionuncountable
The currency of the United Kingdom, based on the pound sterling; hence, genuine English or British currency, as contrasted with foreign currency.
by extensioncountable
A penny issued in other countries, such as Scotland.
A number of places in the United States
A ghost town in Jackson County, Iowa.
British money; especially the pound sterling as the basic monetary unit of the UK
by extensionuncountable
Short for sterling silver ("an alloy containing not less than 92.5 percent silver, the remainder usually being copper; articles made from this alloy collectively").
adjective
not comparable
Of or relating to the currency of the United Kingdom, or former types of English or British coinage.
not comparable
Of silver: being of standard quality.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (uncountable) The currency of the United Kingdom, based on the pound sterling; hence, genuine English or British currency, as contrasted with foreign currency.
Used this way, sterling 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
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
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.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The group of countries whose currencies are tied to the British pound sterling.
The group of countries whose currencies are tied to the British pound sterling.
A silver alloy with no more than 7.5% copper.
The basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The basic unit of money in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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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.