How to pronounce “ameliorate”
Say “ameliorate” in 4 beats
ameliorate
/əˈmiljəɹeɪt/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /əˈmiːlɪəɹeɪt/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- əə
- milmilstress
- jəjə
- ɹeɪtɹeɪt
- IPA (American)
- /əˈmiljəɹeɪt/
- IPA (British)
- /əˈmiːlɪəɹeɪt/
- Respelling
- uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt
- Syllables
- 4 — ə-MIL-jə-ɹeɪt
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ə-MIL-jə-ɹeɪt. “mil” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- verb
- Difficulty
- Legend — spelling and sound part company here
American and British are not the same here
/əˈmiljəɹeɪt/
/əˈmiːlɪəɹeɪt/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “ameliorate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“am-ee-lee-OR-ate”
the stress is early, on MEEL, and the -ior- becomes a quick yuh
What “ameliorate” means
- verb
to make better
“The editor improved the manuscript with his changes”
- verb
get better
“The weather improved toward evening”
Say it in a sentence
“Planting trees along the bank did ameliorate the flooding slightly.”“ameliorate”, answered
How do you pronounce “ameliorate”?
“ameliorate” is pronounced /əˈmiljəɹeɪt/ (uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt) in American English and /əˈmiːlɪəɹeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “mil”. Build it as ə-MIL-jə-ɹeɪt, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “ameliorate” have?
4: ə · mil · jə · ɹeɪt. The beat lands on the second, “mil”. Read letter by letter it looks like 5 (am-ee-lee-OR-ate), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 4.
Is “ameliorate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /əˈmiljəɹeɪt/ (uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt); British English says /əˈmiːlɪəɹeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “ameliorate” mean?
As a verb: to make better For example: “The editor improved the manuscript with his changes” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “ameliorate”?
Stress the second syllable: ə-MIL-jə-ɹeɪt. “mil” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “ameliorate” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.