center
Other forms: centers; centered; centering; centeredly
Whether you are the center of attention or hanging out at the recreation center, you are in the middle of it all.
You might think of a circle when you think of a center, but a center is also a building or group of buildings. One five-sided place, the Pentagon in the U.S., is actually a center of government activity. A recreation center is a place where a lot of recreation happens, just as a medical center is where a lot of doctors and nurses give medical treatment. These centers are buildings or complexes where a certain kind of activity takes place, and a word before center often tells you what the activity is. As a verb, you can center your attention on something or center a centerpiece in the middle of a table.
Definitions of center
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an area that is approximately central within some larger region“it is in the center of town”
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examples:
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City of London
the part of London situated within the ancient boundaries; the commercial and financial center of London
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types:
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center stage, centre stage
the central area on a theater stage
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central city, city center, city centre
the central part of a city
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storm center, storm centre
the central area or place of lowest barometric pressure within a storm
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financial center
the part of a city where financial institutions are centered
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hub
a center of activity or interest or commerce or transportation; a focal point around which events revolve
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inner city
the older and more populated and (usually) poorer central section of a city
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medical center
the part of a city where medical facilities are centered
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midfield
(sports) the middle part of a playing field (as in football or lacrosse)
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seat
a center of authority (as a city from which authority is exercised)
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midstream
the middle of a stream
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capital
a seat of government
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civic center, down town, municipal center
the center of a city
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county courthouse, county seat
the town or city that is the seat of government for a county
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county town, shire town
the town or city that is the seat of government for a shire
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see
the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
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City of London
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a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
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types:
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bight
the middle part of a slack rope (as distinguished from its ends)
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center of curvature, centre of curvature
the center of the circle of curvature
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bowels
the center of the Earth
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bull, bull's eye
the center of a target
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center of gravity, centre of gravity
the point within something at which gravity can be considered to act; in uniform gravity it is equal to the center of mass
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center of mass, centre of mass
point representing the mean position of the matter in a body
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core
the center of an object
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navel, navel point
the center point or middle of something
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nombril
the center point on a shield
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core
the central part of the Earth
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nucleus
the positively charged dense center of an atom
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nucleus
(astronomy) the center of the head of a comet; consists of small solid particles of ice and frozen gas that vaporizes on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail
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center of buoyancy, center of immersion, centre of buoyancy, centre of immersion
(physics) the center of mass of the immersed part of ship or other floating object
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center of flotation, centre of flotation
the center of gravity of a floating object
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barycenter
(astronomy) the common center of mass around which two or more bodies revolve
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centroid
the center of mass of an object of uniform density
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cob, corn cob, corncob
the hard cylindrical core that bears the kernels of an ear of corn
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type of:
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point
the precise location of something; a spatially limited location
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the middle of a military or naval formation“they had to reinforce the center”
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type of:
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formation
an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit
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formation
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the sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering
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synonyms:
centre
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type of:
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confection, sweet
a food rich in sugar
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confection, sweet
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move into the center
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equally distant from the extremes
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the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
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synonyms:
centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, pith, substance, sum
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types:
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bare bones
(plural) the most basic facts or elements
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hypostasis
(metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality
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haecceity, quiddity
the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other
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distillation, quintessence
the purest and most concentrated essence of something
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stuff
a critically important or characteristic component
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type of:
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cognitive content, content, mental object
the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
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the object upon which interest and attention focuses“his stories made him the center of the party”
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synonyms:
center of attention, centre, centre of attention
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types:
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conversation piece
something interesting that stimulates conversation
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crosshairs
a center of interest
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cynosure
something that strongly attracts attention and admiration
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eye-catcher
a striking person or thing that attracts attention
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type of:
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object
the focus of cognitions or feelings
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center upon“Her entire attention centered on her children”
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synonyms:
center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about, revolve around
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direct one's attention on something
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synonyms:
centre, concentrate, focus, pore, rivet
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rivet
hold (someone's attention)
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types:
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absorb, engross, engulf, immerse, plunge, soak up, steep
devote (oneself) fully to
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recall
cause one's (or someone else's) thoughts or attention to return from a reverie or digression
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think
focus one's attention on a certain state
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zoom in
examine closely; focus one's attention on
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hear, listen, take heed
listen and pay attention
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drink, drink in
be fascinated or spell-bound by; pay close attention to
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incline
bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well
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rivet
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a position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game
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type of:
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position
(in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player
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position
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(basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team
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examples:
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William Felton Russell
United States basketball center (born in 1934)
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type of:
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basketball player, basketeer, cager
an athlete who plays basketball
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William Felton Russell
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the position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
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type of:
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position
(in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player
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position
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(ice hockey) the person who plays center on a hockey team
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type of:
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hockey player, ice-hockey player
an athlete who plays hockey
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hockey player, ice-hockey player
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(American football) the position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play“it is a center's responsibility to get the football to the quarterback”
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type of:
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lineman
(American football) the position of a player on a football team who is stationed on the line of scrimmage
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lineman
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(football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback
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the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher“he hit the ball to deep center”
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synonyms:
center field, centerfield
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type of:
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parcel, parcel of land, piece of ground, piece of land, tract
an extended area of land
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parcel, parcel of land, piece of ground, piece of land, tract
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a place where some particular activity is concentrated“they received messages from several centers”
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synonyms:
centre
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types:
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nerve center, nerve centre
a center that provides information and control
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capital
a center that is associated more than any other with some activity or product
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nerve center, nerve centre
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a building dedicated to a particular activity“they were raising money to build a new center for research”
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synonyms:
centre
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types:
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burn center
a center where patients with severe burns can be treated
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call center, call centre
a center equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers)
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civic center, community center
a center where the members of a community can gather for social or cultural activities
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conference center, conference house
a center where conferences can be conducted
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control center
the operational center for a group of related activities
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research center, research facility
a center where research is done
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service club
a recreational center for servicemen
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settlement house
a center in an underprivileged area that provides community services
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student center
a center for student activities at a college or university
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mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace
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synonyms:
mall, plaza, shopping center, shopping centre, shopping mall
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type of:
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mercantile establishment, outlet, retail store, sales outlet
a place of business for retailing goods
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mercantile establishment, outlet, retail store, sales outlet
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a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process“in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere”
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synonyms:
centre, nerve center, nerve centre
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types:
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auditory center
the part of the brain (in a fold of the cerebral cortex of the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain) that receives impulses from the ear by way of the auditory nerve
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olfactory brain, rhinencephalon
a center in the cerebral hemispheres that governs the sense of smell in lower animals; in humans it seems to mediate complex emotional behavior
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Broca's area, Broca's center, Broca's convolution, Broca's gyrus, convolution of Broca
the motor speech center in the left hemisphere of the brain in most people
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Wernicke's area, Wernicke's center
the auditory word center; located in the posterior part of the superior temporal convolution in most people
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superior colliculus
an essential visual center between the retina and the striate cortex
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inferior colliculus
an essential auditory center in the midbrain
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respiratory center
the center in the medulla oblongata and pons that integrates sensory information about the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood and determines the signals to be sent to the respiratory muscles
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type of:
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neural structure
a structure that is part of the nervous system
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politically moderate persons; centrists
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type of:
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class, social class, socio-economic class, stratum
people having the same social, economic, or educational status
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class, social class, socio-economic class, stratum
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of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually
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Synonyms:
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centrist, middle-of-the-road
supporting or pursuing a course of action that is neither liberal nor conservative
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Antonyms:
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right
of or belonging to the political or intellectual right
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left
of or belonging to the political or intellectual left
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socialist, socialistic
advocating or following the socialist principles
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conservative
resistant to change
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liberal
tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition
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conservative
having social or political views favoring conservatism
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old-line, oldline
adhering to conservative or reactionary principles
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far-right, reactionary, reactionist
extremely conservative
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rightish
tending toward the political right
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right-wing, rightist
believing in or supporting tenets of the political right
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far left
radical or extremely liberal
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leftish
tending toward the political left
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left-of-center, left-wing, leftist
believing in or supporting tenets of the political left
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liberal
having political or social views favoring reform and progress
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centrist, middle-of-the-road
Pronunciation
US
/ˈsɛntər/
UK
/ˈsɛntə/
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