| / English Dictionary |
NEUTRAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
One who does not side with any party in a war or dispute
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("neutral" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "neutral"):
fence-sitter (a person who won't take sides in a controversy)
stakeholder (someone entrusted to hold the stakes for two or more persons betting against one another; must deliver the stakes to the winner)
Derivation:
neutral (not supporting or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having no net electric charge
Synonyms:
electroneutral; neutral
Classified under:
Similar:
uncharged (of a particle or body or system; having no charge)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having no hue
Example:
neutral colors like black or white
Synonyms:
achromatic; neutral
Classified under:
Similar:
iron-gray; iron-grey (of the grey color of iron)
lily-white (of a pure white color)
milk-white (of a white the color of fresh milk)
olive-gray; olive-grey (of grey tinged with olive)
dark-gray; dark-grey; oxford-gray; oxford-grey (of a dark shade of grey)
pearl gray; pearl grey (of a grey with a pearly tinge)
pearly; pearly-white (of a white the color of pearls)
pinkish-white (of white tinged with pink)
purple-black; purplish-black (of black tinged with purple)
purple-white; purplish-white (of white tinged with purple)
red-gray; red-grey; reddish-gray; reddish-grey (of grey tinged with red)
sable (of a dark somewhat brownish black)
silver-gray; silver-grey; silvery-gray; silvery-grey (of grey resembling silver)
silver-white; silvery-white (of a white that resembles silver)
slate-black (of a black tinged with slate-grey)
slate-gray; slate-grey; slatey; slaty; slaty-gray; slaty-grey; stone-gray; stone-grey (of the color of slate or granite)
snow-white; snowy (of the white color of snow)
soot-black; sooty-black (of the black color of soot)
violet-black (of black tinged with violet)
white-flowered ((of plants) having white flowers)
off-white; whitish (of something having a color tending toward white)
yellow-gray; yellow-grey; yellowish-gray; yellowish-grey (of grey tinged with yellow)
yellow-white; yellowish-white (of a white tinged with yellow)
argent; silver; silverish; silvery (of lustrous grey; covered with or tinged with the color of silver)
ash-gray; ash-grey; ashy (of a light grey)
blackish (of something that is somewhat black)
black-gray; black-grey; blackish-gray; blackish-grey (of dark grey)
blue-white; bluish-white; cool-white (of white tinged with blue)
blue-gray; blue-grey; bluish-gray; bluish-grey (of grey tinged with blue)
blue-black; bluish black (of black tinged with blue)
brown-black; brownish-black (of black tinged with brown)
brown-gray; brown-grey; brownish-gray; brownish-grey (of grey tinged with brown)
canescent (of greyish white)
chalky (of something having the color of chalk)
ink-black; inky; inky-black (of the color of black ink)
hueless (of something totally lacking in saturation and therefore having no hue)
green-white; greenish-white (of white flowers tinged with green)
greenish-gray; greenish-grey (of grey tinged with green)
gray-white; grayish-white; grey-white; greyish-white (of white tinged with grey)
gray-black; grayish-black; grey-black; greyish-black (of black tinged with grey)
gray; grayish; grey; greyish (of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black)
ebon; ebony (of a very dark black)
dull-white (of a dull shade of white)
cottony-white (of something as white as cotton)
coal-black; jet; jet-black; pitchy; sooty (of the blackest black; similar to the color of jet or coal)
charcoal; charcoal-gray; charcoal-grey (of a very dark grey)
Also:
colorless; colourless (weak in color; not colorful)
Attribute:
chromaticity; hue (the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking distinguishing quality or characteristics
Example:
a neutral personality that made no impression whatever
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
colorless; colourless (lacking in variety and interest)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Not supporting or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
nonaligned (not affiliated with any faction, party, or cause)
Derivation:
neutral (one who does not side with any party in a war or dispute)
neutrality (nonparticipation in a dispute or war)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Having no personal preference
Example:
a neutral observer
Synonyms:
impersonal; neutral
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
nonsubjective; objective (undistorted by emotion or personal bias; based on observable phenomena)
Derivation:
neutrality (tolerance attributable to a lack of involvement)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
neutralised; neutralized (made neutral in some respect; deprived of distinctive characteristics)
viewless (not having or expressing opinions or views)
Antonym:
negative (characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features)
positive (characterized by or displaying affirmation or acceptance or certainty etc.)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Having only a limited ability to react chemically; chemically inactive
Example:
an indifferent chemical in a reaction
Synonyms:
indifferent; inert; neutral
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unreactive ((chemistry) not reacting chemically)
Domain category:
chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)
Derivation:
neutrality (pH value of 7)
Context examples:
On this scale, a pH value of 7 is neutral, and a pH value of more than 7 to 14 shows increasing basicity.
(Base, NCI Dictionary)
About 5 to 10 times more neutral particles could be lost through a process called photochemical escape, which happens when UV radiation breaks apart molecules in the upper atmosphere.
(Mars Mission Sheds Light on Habitability of Distant Planets, NASA)
Calfactant contains phospholipids, neutral lipids, and hydrophobic surfactant-associated proteins B (SP-B) and C (SP-C).
(Calfactant, NCI Thesaurus)
A condition in which the death of adipose tissue results in neutral fats being split into fatty acids and glycerol.
(Fat necrosis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming, indole negative, reduces neutral red, and produces butyrate, but does not hydrolyze esculin or starch, digest gelatin, reduce nitrate, ferment carbohydrates, or produce hydrogen sulfide.
(Eubacterium nodatum, NCI Thesaurus)
As these first stars came to life, their light split neutral atoms apart, making the universe transparent.
(First Stars Formed Later Than We Thought, NASA)
Neutral ceramidase (780 aa, ~86 kDa) is encoded by the human ASAH2 gene.
(Neutral Ceramidase, NCI Thesaurus)
On this scale, a pH value of 7 is neutral, which means it is neither acidic nor basic.
(pH, NCI Dictionary)
But I had decided that the part I was to play must be a neutral one, so I did not answer.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
The answer came in a neutral way:—"I do not know. Sleep has no place it can call its own."
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
