Definition of 'creature'
Word forms: plural creatures
1. countable noun
You can refer to any living thing that is not a plant as a creature, especially when it is of an unknown or unfamiliar kind. People also refer to imaginary animals and beings as creatures.
2. countable noun
4. countable noun [with poss]
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
creature in British English
noun
1.
a living being, esp an animal
3.
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
creatural (ˈcreatural) or creaturely (ˈcreaturely) adjective
creatureliness (ˈcreatureliness)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Church Latin crēatūra, from Latin crēare to create
Word Frequency
creature in American English
noun
1.
anything created, animate or inanimate
2.
an animate or living being
; esp.,
b.
a human being
often used in a patronizing, contemptuous, commiserating, or endearing sensec.
a strange or imaginary being
3.
one completely dominated by another or dependent on another
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
creatural (ˈcreatural)
adjective or ˈcreaturely
Word origin
OFr < L creaturaWord Frequency
creature in American English
(ˈkritʃər)
noun
1.
an animal, esp. a nonhuman
the creatures of the woods and fields
a creature from outer space
2.
anything created, whether animate or inanimate
3.
person; human being
She is a charming creature
The driver of a bus is sometimes an irritable creature
4.
an animate being
5.
a person whose position or fortune is owed to someone or something and who continues under the control or influence of that person or thing
The cardinal was a creature of Louis XI
6. (in Scottish and older US use) (usually prec. by the)
He drinks a bit of the creature before bedtime
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Examples of 'creature' in a sentence
creature
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In other languages
creature
British English: creature
/ˈkriːtʃə/ NOUN
You can refer to any living thing that is not a plant as a creature.
Like all living creatures, birds need a good supply of water.
- American English: creature /ˈkritʃər/
- Arabic: مَخْلُوق
- Brazilian Portuguese: criatura
- Chinese: 动物
- Croatian: stvor
- Czech: tvor
- Danish: skabning
- Dutch: wezen
- European Spanish: criatura
- Finnish: olento
- French: créature
- German: Geschöpf
- Greek: πλάσμα
- Italian: creatura
- Japanese: 生き物
- Korean: 피조물
- Norwegian: skapning
- Polish: stworzenie
- European Portuguese: criatura
- Romanian: creatură
- Russian: животное
- Latin American Spanish: criatura
- Swedish: varelse
- Thai: สิ่งมีชีวิต (คน, สัตว์)
- Turkish: yaratık
- Ukrainian: істота
- Vietnamese: sinh vật
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Definition of creature from the Collins English Dictionary
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