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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “accelerate”

“accelerate” is pronounced /ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/ (ak-SE-luh-ayt) in American English and /ɐksɛləɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “sɛ”.
The sound

Say “accelerate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

accelerate

/ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɐksɛləɹeɪt/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

4 beats
  1. ækæk
  2. sɛsɛstress
  3. lɚlɚ
  4. eɪteɪt
IPA (American)
/ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/ɐksɛləɹeɪt/
Respelling
ak-SE-luh-ayt
Syllables
4 — æk-SƐ-lɚ-eɪt
Stress
Stress the second syllable: æk-SƐ-lɚ-eɪt. “sɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/

British

/ɐksɛləɹeɪt/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “accelerate” means

  1. verb

    move faster

    “The car accelerated”

  2. verb

    cause to move faster

    “He accelerated the car”

Say it in a sentence

“Costs began to accelerate once the delays started.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
æshort akkssɛshort ellɚschwaeɪlong att

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“accelerate”, answered

How do you pronounce “accelerate”?

“accelerate” is pronounced /ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/ (ak-SE-luh-ayt) in American English and /ɐksɛləɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “sɛ”. Build it as æk-SƐ-lɚ-eɪt, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “accelerate” have?

4: æk · sɛ · lɚ · eɪt. The beat lands on the second, “sɛ”.

Is “accelerate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ækˈsɛlɚˌeɪt/ (ak-SE-luh-ayt); British English says /ɐksɛləɹeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “accelerate” mean?

As a verb: move faster For example: “The car accelerated” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “accelerate”?

Stress the second syllable: æk-SƐ-lɚ-eɪt. “sɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “accelerate” and see every sound

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