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zenith

noun

Simple meaning

Highest point or state.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

zeenuhth

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈzinəθ

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

  1. by extension

    Highest point or state; peak.

  2. astronomy

    The highest point in the sky reached by a celestial body.

  3. astronomy

    The point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

  4. astronomy

    The point in the sky vertically above a given position or observer; the point in the celestial sphere opposite the nadir.

Word at a Glance

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

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: Highest point or state; peak.

Used this way, zenith 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 zenith

  • “Winning the continental championship was the zenith of my career.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

zenith telescopezenith distancezenith anglesolar zenithzenith radio

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Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: highest point or state

nadir

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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.