What does turbulence mean?
Word: Turbulence
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Turbulence means strong, uneven movement of air or water that makes things shake or bump, as on a plane; also a time of disorder and unrest in a country or someone's life.
Synonyms: unrest, upheaval, disorder
Antonyms: stillness, peace
How do you spell turbulence?
Syllables: tur - bu - lence
Tricky part: The ending is ence, not ance or ense. The first vowel is u, as in turban, not e.
Watch out for: turbulance, turbulense, terbulence
Memory tip: The turb in turbulence is the turb of disturb: turbulence disturbs a smooth flight.
Turbulence in a sentence
Example 1: Our plane hit some turbulence over the Bay of Bengal, and the drinks trolley rattled.
Example 2: The boat rocked in the turbulence where the two rivers met.
Example 3: The country went through years of political turbulence before things settled.
Fun Fact
Clear-air turbulence happens in cloudless skies, so pilots cannot see it coming on ordinary weather radar.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word: turbulence
a) uproar
b) calm
c) commotion
d) chaos
Show answer
b) calm. Calm air and water are smooth and still; turbulence shakes them up.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) atmosfere
b) hurricaine
c) turbulence
d) temprature
Show answer
c) turbulence. Look at the middles: hurricane has no i, temperature keeps its second e and atmosphere uses ph.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
lucebrnteu
a) turbulence
b) butterflies
c) trouble
d) turbulent
Show answer
a) turbulence. There are ten letters with two e's and a c, which make turbulence, not turbulent.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When a plane hits turbulence, the crew usually ask passengers to ____.
a) move to the back seats
b) queue for the toilet
c) fasten their seat belts
d) take down their bags
Show answer
c) fasten their seat belts
2. Where would you find turbulence in water?
a) in a glass on a table
b) in an ice tray
c) in a still pond
d) below a waterfall
Show answer
d) below a waterfall
