world
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Subjective human experience, regarded collectively.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wurldIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɝld
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.
noun
with "the" or a plural possessive pronoun
The subjective human experience, regarded collectively; human collective existence; existence in general; the reality we live in.
with "the" or a singular possessive pronoun
The subjective human experience, regarded individually.
Earth: the Earth (our earth).
with "the"
The Earth, especially in a geopolitical or cultural context, or as the physical planet.
The Universe.
countable
A planet, especially one which is inhabited or inhabitable.
verb
transitive
To consider or cause to be considered from a global perspective; to consider as a global whole, rather than making or focusing on national or other distinctions; compare globalize.
transitive
To make real; to make worldly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (with "the" or a plural possessive pronoun) The subjective human experience, regarded collectively; human collective existence; existence in general; the reality we live in.
Used this way, world 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
- Matter-of-fact
- 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 world
- “All the world loves a lover.”noun
- “They consider the church to be independent of the world.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A competitor who holds a preeminent position.
A council with representatives from different nations.
An ecumenical organization of Protestant and eastern churches.
A court established to settle disputes between members of the United Nations.
A soccer tournament held every four years between national soccer teams to determine a world champion.
A United Nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services.
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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.