spectrumnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈspek.trəm/us/ˈspek.trəm/plural spectra spectrumsspectrum noun [ C ] (COLOURS)
C2 the set of colours into which a beam of light can be separated, or a range of waves, such as light waves or radio waves:
The colours of the spectrum - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet - can be seen in a rainbow.
More examples
- The survey revealed a wide spectrum of opinion.
- He is some way along the autistic spectrum.
- He was held in great affection by people from the entire political spectrum.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Colour - general words
- chromatic
- color wheel
- colored
- colour
- colour wheel
- coloured
- coloured
- discolour
- high-visibility
- hue
- pigment
- pigmentation
- run
- shade
- spectral
- stain
- tie-dye
- tinge
- tone
- tone in
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spectrum noun [ C ] (RANGE)
C1 a range of different positions, opinions, etc. between two extreme points:
He has support from across the whole political spectrum.
The group includes students from both ends of the social spectrum (= range of social classes).
A wide spectrum of opinion was represented at the meeting.
My disease is nowhere near as bad as hers but they are on the same spectrum.
the autism spectrum
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Range and limits
- all the way to idiom
- ambit
- band
- bound
- boundary
- condition
- limit
- limited
- meta-
- narrow
- narrowly
- range
- specialized
- spread
- stricture
- string
- strings attached idiom
- term
- the gamut
- threshold
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Idiom(s)
on the spectrum