undertake

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To take upon oneself.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhndertayk

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈʌndɚteɪk

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

transitive
To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
britishinformal
To pass a slower moving vehicle on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.
intransitive
To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).

noun

britishinformal
The passing of slower traffic on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).

Used this way, undertake 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.

More ways to use undertake

“We will undertake the challenging project next month.”

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

undertake researchnow undertake

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

undertakingnounInflected form
Any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted.
undertakernounInflected form
One whose business is the management of funerals.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

funeral undertakernounCompound term
One whose business is the management of funerals.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to take upon oneself

set about

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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.