Words / C1

SPEKTR-uh-m/ˈspektrəm/

A spectrum is a range of related qualities or colours: a spectrum of opinion, the visible spectrum. Range is everyday; scale can be a measuring cousin. Spectre (US specter) is a ghost — different spelling and meaning. Do not write spectrum for a single category.

Meaning

A range of related qualities, opinions, or colours.

Examples

• “Opinion on the fee rise sat across a wide spectrum.”
• “Views on the fee sat across a spectrum, not in two cartoon camps.”
• “A light spectrum is physics; a political spectrum is the metaphor examiners expect you to control.”

Good to know

A range (opinions, colours, conditions). Everyday: range. Mix-up: spectre (ghost). Not one box.

Near in meaning

range

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