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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “approbation”

“approbation” is pronounced /ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/ (a-pruh-BAY-shuhn) in American English and /apɹəbeɪʃən/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “at”.
The sound

Say “approbation” in 4 beats

Say it like this

approbation

/ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/

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

4 beats
  1. appæ
  2. robpɹə
  3. atbeɪstress
  4. ionʃən
IPA (American)
/ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/
IPA (British)
/apɹəbeɪʃən/
Respelling
a-pruh-BAY-shuhn
Syllables
4 — app-rob-AT-ion
Stress
Stress the third syllable: app-rob-AT-ion. “at” 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

/ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/

British

/apɹəbeɪʃən/

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

Meaning

What “approbation” means

  1. noun

    official approval

  2. noun

    official recognition or approval

Say it in a sentence

“The plan went ahead once it had the committee's approbation.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
æshort appɹrəschwa×2bbeɪlong aʃshnn

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

Questions

“approbation”, answered

How do you pronounce “approbation”?

“approbation” is pronounced /ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/ (a-pruh-BAY-shuhn) in American English and /apɹəbeɪʃən/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “at”. Build it as app-rob-AT-ion, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “approbation” have?

4: app · rob · at · ion. The beat lands on the third, “at”.

Is “approbation” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌæpɹəˈbeɪʃən/ (a-pruh-BAY-shuhn); British English says /apɹəbeɪʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “approbation” mean?

As a noun: official approval For example: “The plan went ahead once it had the committee's approbation.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “approbation”?

Stress the third syllable: app-rob-AT-ion. “at” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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