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role

role

∞ 1.3
The job and duties someone has in a group or situation
  • noun
  • /roʊl/
: rol
  • And that plays a significant role in how we look.
  • an important role
  • gender roles
  • an active role

So I get that that is your role as the oldest, right?

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Examples

  • What is American Express's role in the small biz Saturday?

  • Additional investigation is warranted to identify the role of professors in the cohort education model.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So I do think that plays a large role, yes.

  • How do you see your role in this American story?

  • And we just have to play our right role in that process.

  • I realized I needed to learn more about the role of race and racism in schools.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So what is the role of blockchain in this?

  • Lord Liu, Department Six played a critical role in this.

  • Two national membership organizations played important roles in the right-to-die movement in the United States.

    Academic text (2011)
  • As a team leader, her role involves guiding and motivating members to achieve common goals.

Synonyms

part
vsrole
∞ 1.0

A person's role in a group or activity

is the whole set of duties and expected behaviour in a situation
position
vsrole
∞ 3.2

A person's job or rank in a group like a company

is the set of duties and responsibilities tied to that rank or job
office
vsrole
∞ 1.6

A job with official power in a government or organization

is the overall set of duties not limited to positions with formal authority
function
vsrole
347 2.9

The job or purpose of something

is the expected set of actions and duties within a situation
post
vsrole
289 3.1

A job or position in an organization where someone works

is the broader set of responsibilities beyond a single assigned job or place
capacity
vsrole
102 4.6

The role someone has when they act for a group or organization

is the broader set of duties and responsibilities, not only the job someone holds
key role
vsrole
35 3.6

An important part of a process, event, or group

is the general expected duties without implying special importance

Idioms

To have an important effect on how something happens

Compounds

209 2.8

A person that others look up to and try to copy

46 3.3

An activity where people pretend to be someone else to practice real situations

40 2.0

An important part in an event or process

35 3.6

An important part of a process, event, or group

19 3.4

Ideas in a society about how men and women should behave

7 5.4

The main character a play, film, or show is named after

4 3.5

A small, less important part in a play, film, or TV show

1 3.3

A person who plays a part in a play, movie, or show

instrumental role
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A thing used by a person to do something, like a key used to open a door

role player
  • Jargon
1 3.9

A person who plays a fictional character in a game with others for fun

A character an actor plays in a play or stage show

benefactive role
  • Specialized
9.9

A person or thing that benefits from an action in a sentence

A character in a play who is not clearly male or female

affected role
  • Specialized
9.1

A person or thing that an action happens to but does not cause

agentive role
  • Specialized
9.3

The person or animal that makes the action happen in a sentence

locative role
  • Specialized
9.7

The part of a sentence that shows where something happens

A role taken mainly for money rather than loyalty

recipient role
  • Specialized
8.5

A person or animal that receives something in a sentence

resultant role
  • Specialized
9.9

A noun that names something made by an action

participant role
  • Specialized
9.4

The part a word has in a sentence, for example doing the action or being affected by it

patient role
  • Specialized
8.5

A person or thing that an action happens to in a sentence

A person who leads and organizes actions and decisions in important talks

semantic role
  • Specialized
7.7

The job a noun phrase has with the main verb, like the doer or the one affected

temporal role
  • Specialized
8.8

A word or phrase that shows when something happens, like yesterday

How Important

executive
891 4.6
managerial
24 5.5
supervisory
16 5.1
role
∞ 1.3
to staff
58 3.3
low-level
96 3.3

Surface Forms

role singular
roles plural

Etymology

Role comes from the same idea of a paper roll or list that showed what someone should do. That's why a role now means the job or set of actions a person has in a group or situation.