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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “adversity”

“adversity” is pronounced /ædˈvɝsɪˌti/ (ad-VUR-si-tee) in American English and /advəsɪti/ in British English, and /ədˈvɝsɪti/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ver”.
The sound

Say “adversity” in 4 beats

Say it like this

adversity

/ædˈvɝsɪˌti/

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

4 beats
  1. adæd
  2. vervɝstress
  3. sitsɪ
  4. yti
IPA (American)
/ædˈvɝsɪˌti/
IPA (British)
/advəsɪti/
Also accepted
/ədˈvɝsɪti/
Respelling
ad-VUR-si-tee
Syllables
4 — ad-VER-sit-y
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ad-VER-sit-y. “ver” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ædˈvɝsɪˌti/

British

/advəsɪti/

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

Meaning

What “adversity” means

  1. noun

    a state of misfortune or affliction

    “debt-ridden farmers struggling with adversity”

  2. noun

    a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event

    “a period marked by adversities”

Say it in a sentence

“She kept her humour through years of genuine adversity.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
æshort addvvɝerssɪshort ittilong e

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

Questions

“adversity”, answered

How do you pronounce “adversity”?

“adversity” is pronounced /ædˈvɝsɪˌti/ (ad-VUR-si-tee) in American English and /advəsɪti/ in British English, and /ədˈvɝsɪti/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “ver”. Build it as ad-VER-sit-y, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “adversity” have?

4: ad · ver · sit · y. The beat lands on the second, “ver”.

Is “adversity” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ædˈvɝsɪˌti/ (ad-VUR-si-tee); British English says /advəsɪti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “adversity” mean?

As a noun: a state of misfortune or affliction For example: “debt-ridden farmers struggling with adversity” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “adversity”?

Stress the second syllable: ad-VER-sit-y. “ver” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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