noun · academic
meaning
UK/ˈmiːnɪŋ/US/ˈminɪŋ/MEAN·ing
Band 5-6task2speaking
what is meant by something; the importance or purpose of something
Examples
“The meaning of the poem is open to interpretation.”
“It was a meaningful gesture of support.”
“Their work gave meaning to his life.”
Band 8 sentence
“The professor argued that education should be meaningful, not just exam-oriented.”
Collocations
- give meaning to something
- meaningful relationship
- a meaningless task
Word family
meaning nounmeaningful adjectivemeaningfully adverbmeaninglessness nounmeaningless adjective
Common mistakes
He is meaningless.→His life seems meaningless.
This book is meaningless for students.→This book is meaningless to students.
Say it for a higher band
5important→6significant→7+meaningful
Synonyms
significance
sense
Easily confused
meaningful
“Volunteering can be a meaningful way to spend your time.”
meaningless
“Many of the rules seemed meaningless to the students.”
Related words
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In -ful / -less
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