Meaning & use
breeze
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Meanings
nouncountable
A light, pleasant wind that is not strong enough to cause trouble.
Grammar: Countable: a breeze, the evening breezes. Often used with gentle, light or cool.
Patterns
- a breeze from the sea
- a gentle breeze
A cool breeze drifted in from the sea at sunset.
The curtains moved in the breeze.
There was hardly a breeze on the lake, so the sailboat barely moved.
nounsingularinformal
Something that is very easy to do.
Grammar: Used after a: it was a breeze. Usually follows be and is informal.
Patterns
- be a breeze
- a breeze for someone
The driving test was a breeze for her.
After weeks of practice, the speech was a breeze.
Booking tickets online is a breeze.
verbintransitiveinformal
To do or finish something easily and with little effort.
Grammar: Almost always followed by through: she breezed through the interview.
Patterns
- breeze through something
She breezed through the exam in half the time.
He breezed through the first round of the tournament.
I thought the task would be hard, but I breezed through it.
verbintransitive
To move or enter somewhere in a relaxed, confident way, as if nothing could bother you.
Grammar: Needs a direction word such as in, into or past: he breezed into the room.
Patterns
- breeze into somewhere
- breeze past someone
He breezed into the meeting twenty minutes late, smiling at everyone.
She breezed past the guards without showing a pass.
The new manager breezed in and changed everything.
Word forms
| plural | breezes |
|---|---|
| third person | breezes |
| past | breezed |
| past participle | breezed |
| -ing form | breezing |
Common combinations
- gentle breeze
- A gentle breeze kept the beach comfortable all afternoon.
- sea breeze
- The sea breeze cooled the town every evening.
- a breeze to do
- Making pancakes is a breeze once you know the recipe.
- breeze through
- She breezed through the test with full marks.
- breeze into
- He breezed into the room as if he owned it.
- light breeze
- A light breeze rustled the leaves.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wind
- Wind is the general word for moving air and may be strong, whereas breeze is always gentle.
- zephyr
- Zephyr is a literary word for a soft, warm breeze and sounds poetic in everyday speech.
- gust
- A gust is a sudden short burst of wind, and it can be strong, unlike a steady breeze.
- draft
- A draft is an unwanted stream of air indoors, whereas a breeze is usually pleasant and outdoors.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: breeze or draft?
breeze vs draft
A draft (draught in British English) is an unwanted current of air in a room, while a breeze is a pleasant outdoor wind.
Practice
She ___ through the exam in half the allotted time and left the hall smiling.
Choose one answer.
Breeze through means to do something easily. Blew through would suggest wind or spending, breathed through is about air in the lungs, and braced does not take through in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “breeze”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.