different between significant vs pressing

English

Etymology

From Latin significans, present participle of significare, from signum (“sign”) + ficare (“do, make”), variant of facere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s???n?.f?.k?nt/

• (US, also) IPA^(key): /s???n?.f?.??nt/

Adjective

significant (comparative more significant, superlative most significant)

1. Signifying something; carrying meaning.

   Synonym: meaningful

   • It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.
2. Having a covert or hidden meaning.
3. Having a noticeable or major effect.

   Synonym: notable
4. Reasonably large in number or amount.
5. (statistics) Having a low probability of occurring by chance (for example, having high correlation and thus likely to be related).

Usage notes

• This word may be ambiguous in some situations. In formal writing, care should be taken with comments such as "the difference is significant," because it is not clear without contextual clues whether significant modifies the fact that there is a difference ("notable"), or the difference itself ("large in number or amount"). In some such situations, large and other synonyms may be used in its place.

Synonyms

• important

Antonyms

• insignificant
• ignorable
• negligible
• slight

Related terms

• significance
• significand
• significant other
• signify

Translations

Noun

significant (plural significants)

1. That which has significance; a sign; a token; a symbol.
   • a. 1850, William Wordsworth, The Egyptian Maid

     And in my glass significants there are

References

significant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Catalan

Verb

significant

1. present participle of significar

Latin

Verb

significant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of signific?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??s??/

Adjective

pressing (comparative more pressing, superlative most pressing)

1. Needing urgent attention.
   • 2013, Luke Harding and Uki Goni, Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism' (in The Guardian, 3 January 2013)[1]

     Argentinians support the "Malvinas" cause, which is written into the constitution. But they are also worried about pressing economic problems such as inflation, rising crime and corruption.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, ch. 75,

     “I come on business.—Private,” he added, with a glance at the man who stood looking on, “and very pressing business.”

2. Insistent, earnest, or persistent.
   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 2,

     You are very pressing, Basil, but I am afraid I must go.

   • 1908, Joseph Conrad, "The Duel,"

     He was pressing and persuasive.

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pressing.

Derived terms

• pressingly
• pressingness

Translations

Noun

pressing (plural pressings)

1. The application of pressure by a press or other means.
2. A metal or plastic part made with a press.
3. The process of improving the appearance of clothing by improving creases and removing wrinkles with a press or an iron.
4. A memento preserved by pressing, folding, or drying between the leaves of a flat container, book, or folio. Usually done with a flower, ribbon, letter, or other soft, small keepsake.
5. The extraction of juice from fruit using a press.
6. A phonograph record; a number of records pressed at the same time.
7. Urgent insistence.

Verb

pressing

1. present participle of press

Anagrams

• Persings, Spigners, spersing, springes

French

Etymology

A pseudo-anglicism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??.si?/, /p?e.si?/

Noun

pressing m (plural pressings)

1. dry cleaning shop, a dry-cleaner's

Italian

Noun

pressing m (invariable)

1. (sports, especially soccer) Continuous and pressing action that does not allow the opposing team to catch its breath, aiming to remove the ball from its possession
2. (figuratively, transferred sense) Pressing (application of pressure)