adjective · academic
significant
/sɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt/sig·NIF·i·cant
large or important enough to be noticed or to matter in an analysis
Examples
“There was a significant rise in smartphone ownership between 2005 and 2015.”
“A significant proportion of students chose to study part‑time.”
“The chart shows a significant fall after 2008.”
Band 8 sentence
“The proportion of households using the internet increased significantly between 2000 and 2010, representing a significant structural shift in access.”
Collocations
- a significant increase
- significantly higher/lower
- of significant importance
Word family
Common mistakes
a significantly increase→a significant increase
significant increase→a significant increase
to significant→significant (adj) / significance (noun)
Say it for a higher band
5big→6large→7+significant
Synonyms
substantial
considerable
Easily confused
substantial
“Although both figures rose, the rise in exports was substantial, while the change in domestic demand was merely significant.”
Related words
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In Overall trends
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