half
∞
1.0
- adjective
- /hæf/
- You might be half right.
- half full
- half empty
- half as likely
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Watch on YouTubeI believe in being half full than half empty.
- I believe in being half full than half empty.
- It's half comical and it's half, it's half inspiring.
- So when people speak half Spanish, half English, you know?
- Yet they're still aware of me, half aware, half sleeping, half awake.
- I've always wanted to, it's half rock show, half comedy show.
- Like people with half brains, like half size smooth brains.
Examples
-
That glass looks half full to me.
-
The parking lot was only half full, so we found a spot easily.
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So when people speak half Spanish, half English, you know?
-
The glass, they say, is half full, not half empty.
Academic text (2007) -
I've always wanted to, it's half rock show, half comedy show.
-
By the time the knock on the door came there in Presidio, I was half asleep.
Fiction book (1990) -
And I found out on ancestry.com that I'm half Jewish.
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It's half full.
-
During the meeting, she spoke half in English and half in Spanish.
-
With the renovation completed, the building now looks half as good as it used to.
Synonyms
∞
1.7
To some extent but not completely
322
1.0
To some extent but not completely
194
2.4
To some degree but not completely
118
2.1
Only partly done and not enough to be complete
8
3.7
At a point in the middle, not at the start or end
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
2
4.1
To focus on the good parts of a situation instead of the bad
- Informal
1
9.9
Everywhere in a hurried, messy way like people searching quickly
Two choices that are almost the same and make no real difference
Compounds
- Informal
19
3.3
A person someone is married to or lives with, said in a friendly, joking way
- Formal
8
7.1
A position partway down a flagpole where a flag flies to show respect after a death
- Jargon
2
7.4
A wrestling hold where one arm goes under the opponent's arm and presses the back of the neck
- Archaic
1
7.0
A smaller amount of money given to a worker who is not working full time but is still employed
- Specialized
1
4.4
The smallest jump between two notes in Western music, one piano key apart
- Specialized
1
9.0
A dive in which a diver jumps forward and does a half backward flip to enter facing the board
- Specialized
1
8.2
A building with visible wooden frames and walls filled with brick or plaster
- Specialized
1
7.7
A vehicle with tracks at the back and wheels at the front that moves over rough ground
1
6.3
A short piece of underwear worn under a skirt to help it hang smoothly and stop it showing through
1
4.0
A mask that covers the upper part of the face, leaves the mouth visible, and has holes for the eyes
- Archaic
1
9.9
A part of Manhattan once known for crime and very poor housing in the 1800s and early 1900s
How Complete
Surface Forms
Etymology
Half comes from an old German word healf meaning 'one of two' or 'part'. A helpful way to remember the 'partly' sense is to imagine a job that is only half done — only one of the two parts is finished. So, half can mean 'partly' or not complete.