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thank

verb

Simple meaning

To express appreciation or gratitude toward.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

thangk
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈθæŋk

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something).

  2. transitivefigurative

    To respond to (someone) out of, or as if out of, appreciation or gratitude.

  3. Express gratitude or show appreciation to

  4. transitivefigurative

    Chiefly followed by for: to credit or hold (someone or something) responsible, especially for something negative; to blame.

  5. transitive

    In the future tense in the form one will thank someone to do something, chiefly expressing a command or criticism: to request that (someone) do something.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To express appreciation or gratitude toward (someone or something).

Used this way, thank is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Grateful and appreciative
Usage feel
Warm and expressive

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use thank

  • “She thanked him for the lift.”verb
  • “We can thank global warming for this weather.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

thank godthank heaventhank goodnessthank professorspecial thankespecially thank

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • thanksnounPlural form

    An acknowledgment of appreciation.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • thankfuladjectiveDerived adjective

    Feeling or showing gratitude.

  • thankfullyadverbDerived adverb

    In a thankful manner.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • thank younounCompound term

    A conversational expression of gratitude.

  • thank offeringnounCompound term

    An offering made as an expression of thanks.

  • give thanksverbCompound term

    Express gratitude or show appreciation to.

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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.