View synonyms for

keyword

or key word

[ kee-wurd ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a word that serves as a key, as to the meaning of another word, a sentence, passage, or the like.
a word used to encipher or decipher a cryptogram, as a pattern for a transposition procedure or the basis for a complex substitution.
Also called catchword. Library Science. a significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of a document or other item being indexed, used as the index entry.
Digital Technology. a word used to classify or organize digital content, or to facilitate an online search for information:
Search the database for the keyword “Ireland.”

keyword

/ ˈ�쾱ːˌ��ɜː�� /

noun

a word used as a key to a code
any significant word or phrase, esp a word used to describe the contents of a document

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Word History and Origins

Origin of keyword¹

First recorded in 1855–60; key ¹ + word

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The keyword for Donald Trump's first 100 days has been impunity.

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In April 2019, a community hashtag for the popular gay keyword “les” disappeared from Weibo, an X-like microblogging platform.

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A keyword in the above sentence is “woman.”

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In October, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld the search of Google users’ keyword history, an approach that critics have called a digital dragnet that threatens to undermine people’s privacy and their constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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Web of Science data show publications mentioning MTurk as a keyword went from 34 in 2010 to a peak of 989 in 2021.

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Key West keyword indexing

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