volunteer

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Someone who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

vahluhntir

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

vɑlənˈtɪɹ

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.

noun

One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
military
A person who freely enlists for service
military
One who enters into military service voluntarily (but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers), as opposed to a conscript.
law
A person who performs voluntary work
law
A person who acts out of their own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.

verb

transitive
To offer, usually unprompted.
transitiveinformal
To offer the services of (someone else) to do something.
Do volunteer work
intransitive
To enlist oneself as a volunteer.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.

Used this way, volunteer is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Positive
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Gentle
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Positive and appreciative
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

offer , a specialist term, precise but narrower

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

More ways to use volunteer

“She volunteered to drive the old lady home.”verb

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Enters / freely

volunteer service

Voluntary

volunteer corps

Other combinations

volunteer armyvolunteer workvolunteer forcevolunteer infantryvolunteer firevolunteer movement

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

loyalist volunteer forcenounCompound term
A terrorist group formed in 1996 in Northern Ireland.
military volunteernounCompound term
A person who freely enlists for service.
national volunteers associationnounCompound term
An all-male organization begun in 1925 to foster nationalism in India's Hindus.

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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.