swarm
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A large number of insects.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
swawrmIPA pronunciation (US)
swɔɹm
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.
A mass of people, animals or things in motion or turmoil.
verb
To teem, or be overrun with insects, people, etc.
To overwhelm as by an opposing army.
To climb by gripping with arms and legs alternately.
To breed multitudes.
To move as a swarm.
To fill a place as a swarm.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A large number of insects, especially when in motion or (for bees) migrating to a new colony.
Used this way, swarm 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.
More ways to use swarm
- “The garden was swarming with bees.”verb
- “A swarm of insects obscured the light.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A group of meteoroids with similar paths.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.