pronunciation
noun
Simple meaning
The way a word or a language is customarily spoken.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prohnuhnseeayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹoʊnənsiˈeɪʃən
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
The way a word or a language is customarily spoken
“The pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners.”
uncountable
The way in which the words of a language are made to sound when speaking.
countable
The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
The manner in which someone utters a word
“They are always correcting my pronunciation.”
countable
The act of pronouncing or uttering a vocable.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The way a word or a language is customarily spoken
Used this way, pronunciation is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “pronunciation of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: pronunciation of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Word / wordsnoun
“The pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners.”
Uttersnoun
“They are always correcting my pronunciation.”
More ways to use pronunciation
- “They are always correcting my pronunciation.”noun
- “The pronunciation of Chinese is difficult for foreigners.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The approved pronunciation of British English.
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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.