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undulate

verb · adjective

Simple meaning

To cause to move in a wavelike motion.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhnjuhlayt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈʌndʒəleɪt

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 cause to move in a wavelike motion.

  2. Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion

  3. transitive

    To cause to resemble a wave.

  4. intransitive

    To appear wavelike.

adjective

  1. Wavy in appearance or form.

  2. Changing the pitch and volume of one's voice.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Typical Use
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To cause to move in a wavelike motion.

Used this way, undulate 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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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Cause / move

undulate along

Occur

undulate round

Other combinations

slightly undulateundulate throughsomewhat undulateless undulatestrongly undulatemargin undulate

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • wave

    To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.

  • flap

    Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion.

  • roll

    To revolve by turning over and over.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to cause to move in a wavelike motion

roll

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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.