turn away
verb
Simple meaning
To refuse to admit someone or accept something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
turnuhwaySay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɝnəˈweɪ
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.
verb
transitivefiguratively
To refuse to admit someone or accept something.
transitivefiguratively
To avert or ward off the occurrence or effects of.
intransitivefiguratively
To forsake or refuse an association or commitment.
Move so as not face somebody or something
Turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To refuse to admit someone or accept something.
Used this way, turn away 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
- 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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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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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.