What does "workword" mean?

The operative word, especially in a thought, phrase, or idea; keyword.

What is a synonym for "workword"?

Common synonyms include: catchword, keynote, keynote, keyword, keyword, watchword.

Workword

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The operative word, especially in a thought, phrase, or idea; keyword. rare
"In peace, as in war, speed will be the workword. The less time required to rig and properly operate heavy-duty cranes and cargo lifts, the more tonnage you can handle."

Synonyms

All synonyms

catchword keynote keynote keyword keyword watchword

Example

More examples

"In peace, as in war, speed will be the workword. The less time required to rig and properly operate heavy-duty cranes and cargo lifts, the more tonnage you can handle."

Etymology

From work + word, perhaps as a calque of Dutch werkwoord (“verb”). Compare also West Frisian wurkwurd (“verb”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.