Head Word (Noun)

Meaning ¹

(grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent.

Classification

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.

Synonyms

• Head

Hypernyms

• Word

Meaning ²

A content word that can be qualified by a modifier.

Classification

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.

Examples

• The happy dog is the main attraction, where "dog" is the head word being modified by the adjective "happy".
• The tall mountains in the picture are impressive, where "mountains" is the head word qualified by the adjective "tall".
• The beautiful, old, antique car is on display, where "car" is the head word modified by the adjectives "beautiful", "old", and "antique".
• The difficult math problem was finally solved, where "problem" is the head word qualified by the adjective "difficult".
• The soft, fluffy kitten is adorable, where "kitten" is the head word being modified by the adjectives "soft" and "fluffy".

Synonyms

• Headword

Hypernyms

• Content Word