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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “adulterate”

“adulterate” is pronounced /əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/ (uh-DUL-tuh-ayt) in American English and /ɐdʌltəɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “dʌl”.
The sound

Say “adulterate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

adulterate

/əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/

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

4 beats
  1. əə
  2. dʌldʌlstress
  3. tɚtɚ
  4. eɪteɪt
IPA (American)
/əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/ɐdʌltəɹeɪt/
Respelling
uh-DUL-tuh-ayt
Syllables
4 — ə-DɅL-tɚ-eɪt
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ə-DɅL-tɚ-eɪt. “dʌl” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb, adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/

British

/ɐdʌltəɹeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “adulterate” means

  1. verb

    corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

    “adulterate liquor”

  2. adjective

    mixed with impurities

Say it in a sentence

“Sellers used to adulterate cheap honey with plain sugar syrup.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
əschwa×2ddʌshort ulltt×2eɪlong a

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

Questions

“adulterate”, answered

How do you pronounce “adulterate”?

“adulterate” is pronounced /əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/ (uh-DUL-tuh-ayt) in American English and /ɐdʌltəɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “dʌl”. Build it as ə-DɅL-tɚ-eɪt, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “adulterate” have?

4: ə · dʌl · tɚ · eɪt. The beat lands on the second, “dʌl”.

Is “adulterate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /əˈdʌltɚˌeɪt/ (uh-DUL-tuh-ayt); British English says /ɐdʌltəɹeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “adulterate” mean?

As a verb: corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones For example: “adulterate liquor” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “adulterate”?

Stress the second syllable: ə-DɅL-tɚ-eɪt. “dʌl” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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