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Partnership

n. kind, capable professional

What it means

A continuing relationship in which people or organizations share work, responsibility, or benefit.

Reach for it when describing cooperation with mutual responsibility rather than a one-time exchange

The school and clinic formed a partnership to provide hearing tests in rural villages.

Words to choose between 8

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom. Tap a word to see when it fits.
everyday
warm
professional
formal

  • everyday

    cooperation

    Fits when smooth joint effort is the simple fact

    Careful Cooperation can occur between parties with no lasting relationship.

  • warm

    companionship

    Fits when mutual presence and personal support matter most

    Careful It lacks the shared task, obligation, or institutional purpose of partnership.

  • warm

    teamwork

    Fits when coordinated effort among people deserves praise

    Careful Teamwork describes behavior, not the enduring relationship or legal structure.

  • professional

    coalition

    Fits when independent groups combine influence for a defined cause

    Careful Coalitions may dissolve after one campaign and can contain uneasy partners.

  • professional

    collaboration

    Fits when people actively create or solve something together

    Careful A collaboration can be temporary and need not share risk or governance.

  • professional

    joint venture

    Fits when organizations create a specific shared commercial undertaking

    Careful The legal and business meaning is too narrow for friendship or civic cooperation.

  • formal

    alliance

    Fits when separate parties unite around a strategic interest

    Careful Alliance can sound political or defensive and may not involve daily joint work.

  • formal

    association

    Fits when an organized connection or membership is central

    Careful Association does not prove active shared responsibility.

Opposites 4

  • rivalry
  • separation
  • opposition
  • isolation

Common phrases 4

  • strong partnership

    A strong partnership let both museums share conservation equipment.

  • working partnership

    Their working partnership survived disagreement because each role was explicit.

  • partnership between

    The partnership between the library and bus service brought books to isolated readers.

  • build a partnership

    The two cooperatives took a year to build a partnership based on shared accounts.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Commander Keane, Australian accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated