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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “acumen”

“acumen” is pronounced /əˈkjumən/ (uh-KYOO-muhn) in American English and /akjuːmɛn/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “um”.
The sound

Say “acumen” in 3 beats

Say it like this

acumen

/əˈkjumən/

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

3 beats
  1. acə
  2. umkjustress
  3. enmən
IPA (American)
/əˈkjumən/
IPA (British)
/akjuːmɛn/
Respelling
uh-KYOO-muhn
Syllables
3 — ac-UM-en
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ac-UM-en. “um” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/əˈkjumən/

British

/akjuːmɛn/

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

Meaning

What “acumen” means

  1. noun

    a tapering point

  2. noun

    shrewdness shown by keen insight

Say it in a sentence

“Her business acumen saved the shop during a very bad winter.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
əschwa×2kkjyulong oommnn

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

Questions

“acumen”, answered

How do you pronounce “acumen”?

“acumen” is pronounced /əˈkjumən/ (uh-KYOO-muhn) in American English and /akjuːmɛn/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “um”. Build it as ac-UM-en, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “acumen” have?

3: ac · um · en. The beat lands on the second, “um”.

Is “acumen” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /əˈkjumən/ (uh-KYOO-muhn); British English says /akjuːmɛn/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “acumen” mean?

As a noun: a tapering point For example: “Her business acumen saved the shop during a very bad winter.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “acumen”?

Stress the second syllable: ac-UM-en. “um” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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