accent
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Distinctive way of oral expression.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhksehntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əkˈsɛnt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
linguisticssociolinguistics
Distinctive manner of oral expression
“He couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent.”
linguistics
A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
linguistics
A word; a significant tone or sound.
figuratively
Emphasis or importance in general.
Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.
linguisticssociolinguistics
The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
verb
transitive
To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.
transitive
To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.
transitive
To mark with written accents.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Distinctive manner of oral expression
An 'accent' is a way of speaking that shows where someone is from or their background. Everyone has an accent, though some are more distinct than others. It's different from dialect, which also includes word choice.
“He couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where you'll really hear it
Travel conversation
“I noticed her strong Southern accent right away.”
Linguistics class
“The local accent changes subtly from town to town.”
Acting workshop
“Practice your British accent to sound more authentic for the role.”
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- speech pattern , rarer, so it draws attention
- stress , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Bearing the principle stress, usually accompanied by a change in pitch.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation.
A mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.
Emphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness.
The distribution of stresses within a polysyllabic word.
A mark placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.
Emphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: distinctive manner of oral expression
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.