ajar
/əˈd͡ʒɑɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.57 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To turn or open slightly; to become ajar or to cause to become ajar; to be or to hang ajar.
Intransitive verb; Transitive verb
adv
Being at variance or in contradiction to something.
Example Sentences
- "The door was standing ajar."
- "The door is ajar."
- "I know—for Death, who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath left his iron gate ajar, […]"
- "A plainclothes detective knocked on a slightly ajarred door."
- "Yes, and the door also lops off stairs leading to a landing on whose landing is another door on whose hinges much of this story ajars, if it hasn't jarred too much already."
- "Just as the gates fully ajarred themselves, the Lamborghini soared through them, and out into the freedom of the poorly defined road."
Etymology
From Middle English ajar, on char (“on [the] turn”), from on (“on”) + char (“turn, occasion”), from Old English ċierr, cyrr (“turn”), from ċierran (“to turn, convert”), equivalent to a- + char. Akin to Scots char, chare (“to turn, cause to turn”), Dutch akerre, kier (“ajar”), German kehren (“to turn”). See char.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈd͡ʒɑɹ/
- British English: /əˈd͡ʒɑː/
Usage
Inflected Forms
achar (alternative, Scotland)
more ajar (comparative)
most ajar (superlative)
ajars (present, singular)
ajarring (participle, present)
ajarred (participle, past)
ajarred (past)
Ajars (plural)