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torn

verb

Form of tear , past participle of tear.

Simple meaning

To rend by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tawrn
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtɔɹn

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. past participle of tear

    To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.

  2. past participle of tear

    To injure as if by pulling apart.

  3. past participle of tear

    To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.

  4. past participle of tear

    To remove by tearing, or with sudden great force.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.

Used this way, torn 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
Moderate
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.

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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.