Words / C1

GULF/ɡʌlf/

A gulf is a wide gap between groups, amounts, or views; also a large sea inlet: a gulf in pay, the Gulf. Gap (already in the dictionary) is everyday and smaller; chasm is more dramatic. Do not call a one-mark difference a gulf.

Meaning

A large gap between people, groups, or amounts; also a sea inlet.

Examples

• “A gulf in pay between the two sites wrecked morale.”
• “A gulf in night-pay between the two sites wrecked any talk of “one team”.”
• “The geographical gulf is water; the exam sense is the unbridgeable gap in outcomes.”

Good to know

A wide gap (figurative); also a sea inlet. Everyday smaller: gap. Dramatic: chasm. Not a tiny difference.

Near in meaning

gap

New