English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

anomalous

adj

Different from what is normal or expected; not fitting the usual pattern.

anomalousness

noun

The quality of being unusual or not following the normal pattern.

anomaly

noun

Something that deviates from what is normal or expected; an irregularity.

anomie

noun

A breakdown of shared social norms and values, leaving people without clear standards to live by; also the personal sense of rootlessness that follows.

anon

adv

Soon; shortly (an old-fashioned or literary word).

anonym

noun

Someone whose name is not known or given.

anonymity

noun

The state of not being known or identified by name.

anonymize

verb

To take away the details that would identify a particular person or thing.

anonymosity

noun

The state of not being named or identified.

anonymous

adj

Not identified by name; of unknown identity.

anonymously

adv

Without giving one's name.

anoon

adv

At once; right away.

anorak

noun

A thick, waterproof coat with a hood attached, similar to a parka.

anorectic

adj

Having little or no desire to eat, especially because of anorexia nervosa.

anorexia

noun

Loss of appetite, especially as a result of illness.

anorexic

adj

Relating to or affected by anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder involving extreme restriction of food.

anosmia

noun

The loss of the ability to smell things.

anosmic

adj

Unable to smell things properly.

another

det

One more, in addition to what has already been mentioned.

anoxia

noun

A state in which part of the body, or the air around it, has almost no oxygen at all.

Ans

name

A feminine given name common in the Netherlands, a short form of Anna or Antje.

Ansari

name

A surname of Arabic origin meaning "helper", common among Muslims in South Asia and the Middle East.

Ansel

name

A masculine given name of Germanic origin, meaning "protected by God", notably borne by photographer Ansel Adams.

anselm

name

A male given name that originates from the Germanic languages.

Anselmo

name

A masculine given name, the Italian and Spanish form of Anselm.

Anson

name

A surname and masculine given name of English origin, meaning "son of Ann".

answer

noun

A reply given to a question, or a solution to a problem.

answerability

noun

The fact of being responsible for something and having to explain it.

answerable

adj

Required to explain or justify one's actions to someone; accountable.

answerableness

noun

The quality of having to account for one's actions or decisions.

answered

adj

Having had a response given.

answerer

noun

A person or thing that gives a reply.

answering

noun

The act of giving a reply.

answerphone

noun

A telephone device that automatically records messages from callers.

ant

noun

A small insect that lives in large, highly organized colonies, usually working in groups to gather food and build nests.

antacid

noun

A medicine that neutralizes stomach acid to relieve heartburn or indigestion.

antagonise

verb

A non-Oxford British English standard spelling of antagonize.

antagonism

noun

A strong feeling of hostility or opposition toward someone or something.

antagonist

noun

The character in a story who stands in the way of the main character and drives the conflict.

antagonistic

adj

Showing active hostility or opposition.

antagonize

verb

To provoke hostility in someone, often deliberately.

Antarctic

adj

Relating to Antarctica or the region around the South Pole.

Antarctica

noun

The icy continent surrounding the South Pole, almost entirely covered by a vast ice sheet and home to no permanent human population.

Antares

noun

A huge, reddish star and one of the brightest in the night sky, marking the heart of the constellation Scorpius.

antasthmatic

adj

Easing the symptoms of asthma.

ante

noun

The amount a player must put into the pot before a hand of cards is dealt.

anteater

noun

A long-snouted mammal from Central and South America that uses its sticky tongue to slurp up ants and termites.

antebellum

adjective

Belonging to the period in the United States before the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, especially in the Southern states.

antecede

verb

To come before something else; to go first.

antecedent

noun

In grammar, the word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to.

antecessor

noun

A person or thing that comes before another.

antechamber

noun

A small room that leads into a bigger one, used as an entrance or waiting area.

antedate

verb

To happen earlier than something else, or to go further back in time.

antediluvial

adj

Belonging to the period before Noah's flood.

antediluvian

adj

Belonging to the time before the great flood in the Bible, or, more broadly, before a similarly huge flood in another story.

antelope

noun

A slender, fast-running, hoofed mammal found mostly in Africa, related to cattle and goats but with permanent, unshed horns.

antemortem

adj

Happening, or carried out, before death.

antenarratology

noun

The academic study of antenarratives and how they connect to fuller stories and narratives.

antenatal

adj

Happening or existing before a baby is born.

antenna

noun

A metal rod, wire, or dish used to send or receive radio, television, or other electromagnetic signals.

antenuptial

adj

Happening before a marriage takes place; prenuptial.

antepartum

adj

(medicine) Relating to the time just before a baby is born; antenatal.

antepenultimate

adj

Third from the end of a series, just before the second-to-last item.

anterior

adj

Located toward the front, especially of the body — nearer the head end rather than the back.

anteriority

noun

The fact of coming earlier than something else in time or order.

anterograde

adj

Taking effect straight after a sudden shock or injury.

anteroom

noun

A room that comes before another, or acts as its entryway; a waiting room.

Anthea

noun

A female given name of Greek origin, associated with blossoms and springtime.

anthem

noun

A formal, often patriotic or ceremonial song that represents a nation, group, or cause.

anther

noun

The part of a flower's stamen that produces and holds pollen.

anthesis

noun

The time when a flower opens.

anthill

noun

A mound of soil, sand, or debris built up by ants (or termites) over the entrance to their underground colony.

anthology

noun

A book containing a selection of poems, stories or essays, usually by different writers and chosen around a theme.

Anthony

noun

A common male given name, in use since medieval times, and also found as a surname.

anthracite

noun

Anthracite is a hard, dense form of coal that burns more cleanly than other coals.

anthrax

noun

A serious infectious disease, caused by a bacterium, that mainly affects livestock like cattle and sheep but can also infect humans.

anthropocentric

adjective

Placing humans at the centre of things and giving them priority over everything else.

anthropocentrism

noun

The view that places human beings at the centre of everything, valuing them above all other considerations.

anthropoid

adj

Looking like a human being, especially in shape.

anthropological

adj

Relating to the study of human societies, cultures, and origins.

anthropologist

noun

A scholar who studies human societies, cultures, and their development, whether past or present.

anthropology

noun

The scientific and scholarly study of human beings, covering culture, language, biology, and history.

anthropomorphic

adjective

Given human form, behaviour or personality, said especially of animals, objects or characters in art and stories.

anthropomorphism

noun

The habit of treating animals, objects or other nonhuman things as though they had human characteristics and behaviour.

anthropophagy

noun

The eating of human flesh by other humans.

anthroposophy

noun

A spiritual philosophy developed by Rudolf Steiner in the early twentieth century, holding that an objective spiritual world can be reached through inner development.

anthumous

adj

Describes a work that came out while its writer was still alive.

anti

adj

Opposed to a particular idea, policy, or plan.

antialiasing

noun

A method used to make jagged edges in a digital picture look smoother.

antiapartheid

adj

Against apartheid.

antibacterial

adj

Able to kill bacteria or stop them growing.

antiballistic

adj

Built to spot, catch and destroy a ballistic missile while it is still flying.

antibiosis

noun

A relationship between living things in which one harms another, often by making a chemical substance.

antibiotic

noun

A medicine that kills bacteria or stops them from growing, used to treat bacterial infections.

antiblooming

adj

Stopping bright patches from appearing in a picture when there is too much light.

antiblue

adj

Describes a colour charge on an antiquark that is the opposite of blue.

antibody

noun

A protein made by the immune system that recognizes and attaches to a specific germ or foreign substance to help destroy it.

antic

noun

A piece of foolish, playful or attention-seeking behaviour; usually used in the plural.

anticannibalism

adj

Against cannibalism, or forbidding it.

anticapitalist

noun

A person who is against capitalism.

antichrist

noun

In Christian belief, a figure prophesied to oppose Christ and deceive people before the end times.

anticipatable

adj

Able to be expected or foreseen.

anticipate

verb

To expect something and prepare for it in advance.

anticipated

adj

Expected to happen or arrive, often with excitement.

anticipation

noun

The feeling of excitement or nervousness while waiting for something to happen.

anticipatory

adj

Showing that something is expected before it happens.

anticlimactic

adj

Disappointing, because it comes after something that promised much more.

anticlimax

noun

A climax that fails to happen, or that turns out the opposite way.

anticline

noun

A fold in rock layers where the strata slope downwards on both sides, forming an upward arch.

anticlockwise

adj

Moving in the opposite direction to a clock's hands.

anticommunity

noun

A group of people that does not follow the rules a normal community would follow.

anticonsumption

noun

Being against buying and using more goods than necessary.

anticyclone

noun

In meteorology, a system of winds that spirals outward from a centre of high atmospheric pressure.

antidepressant

noun

A medication prescribed to relieve or prevent the symptoms of depression.

antiderivative

noun

In calculus, an antiderivative is a function whose derivative equals a given function.

antidotal

adj

Acting as, or connected with, an antidote.

antidote

noun

A substance that counteracts the effects of a poison.

antiemphysemic

adj

Used to treat or work against emphysema.

antievangelical

noun

A person who is against evangelism.

antifeminism

noun

Opposition to feminism.

antifragile

adj

Showing, or connected with, antifragility.

antifreeze

noun

A liquid, usually containing glycol, added to a vehicle's radiator or an aircraft's surfaces to stop water from freezing.

antigen

noun

A substance that triggers an immune response, usually one from outside the body.

antigoglin

adj

Not straight; bent or at an odd angle.

Antigone

noun

In Greek mythology and tragedy, the daughter of Oedipus who defies a royal decree to bury her brother.

Antigua

noun

A Caribbean island, the larger part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

antihero

noun

A main character who acts in ways that are not heroic, for example through crime, cowardice or greed.

antihistamine

noun

A drug that blocks the effects of histamine, commonly used to relieve allergy symptoms like sneezing or itching.

antillean

adj

Belonging to, or connected with, the Antilles, their people or their language.

antimagnetic

adj

Not able to become magnetic, and not affected by a magnetic field.

antimatter

noun

Matter made up of antiparticles, which have the same mass as ordinary particles but opposite charge, and which annihilate on contact with ordinary matter.

antimicrobial

adj

Able to kill microbes.

antimodel

noun

A person or thing that shows what not to be like, as the opposite of an example to follow.

antimony

noun

A chemical element with the symbol Sb and atomic number 51, which in its stable form is a shiny grey, very brittle metal.

antimyth

noun

A belief or idea that goes against a myth.

antinational

adj

Against one's own country; unpatriotic.

antinationalism

noun

Being against nationalism.

antinomy

noun

An antinomy is a contradiction or paradox between two ideas that each seem valid.

Antioch

noun

An ancient city in what is now southeastern Turkey, once a major capital of the Seleucid and later Roman and Byzantine empires, and an important early center of Christianity.

antioxidant

noun

A substance that slows or prevents oxidation, the chemical reaction in which a molecule loses electrons, often to oxygen. In the body, antioxidants react with unstable molecules called free radicals; in food and cosmetics they are added to stop fats and other ingredients from going rancid or degrading.

antiparallel

adj

(of vectors) Parallel but in opposite directions.

antiparticle

noun

A tiny particle that matches another particle in mass and other basic properties, but has its charge and other such properties reversed.

antipasto

noun

An Italian starter dish, usually a cold mix of cured meat, cheese, seafood and vegetables.

antipathy

noun

A strong feeling of dislike towards a person, or less often a thing, sometimes felt for no clear reason.

antipattern

noun

A common approach to a problem that is widely used but actually works badly.

antipodal

adj

Positioned on the exact opposite side of the earth from a given place.

antipodean

adj

Totally opposite to something else.

antipope

noun

Someone who claims to be pope but is not recognised as the true pope by the Catholic Church, usually because of a disputed election.

antipopery

noun

Being against the pope and the Roman Catholic Church.

antiquarian

adj

Connected with the study or collecting of old, historic things.