subject
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
What something is about, or an area of study at school.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhbjehktSay the bold part a little louder.
noun: suhbjektverb: suhbjekt
IPA pronunciation (US)
səbˈdʒɛkt
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 main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
grammar
The noun, pronoun or noun phrase about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject is the actor. In clauses in the passive voice the subject is the target of the action.
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
A citizen in a monarchy.
A particular area of study.
adjective
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
Likely to be affected by or to experience something; liable.
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Conditional upon something; used with to.
verb
Make accountable for
“He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors.”
Make subservient; force to submit or subdue
transitive
To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave; to subjugate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
Used this way, subject 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
Nearby words
- field , a specialist term, precise but narrower
- case , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use subject
- “The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.”adjective
- “In the sentence 'The mouse is eaten by the cat in the kitchen.', 'The mouse' is the subject, 'the cat' being the agent.”noun
- “I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!”verb
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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.
Taking place within the mind and modified by individual bias.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The category of nouns serving as the grammatical subject of a verb.
What a communication that is about something is about.
A branch of knowledge.
A branch of knowledge.
A brief film.
A person holding a fief.
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.