Pronunciation

How to pronounce “assiduous

“assiduous” is pronounced /əˈsɪdʒuəs/ (uh-SID-joo-uhs) in American English and /əˈsɪdjuəs/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “sɪ”.
The sound

Say “assiduous” in 4 beats

Say it like this

assiduous

/əˈsɪdʒuəs/

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

4 beats
  1. əə
  2. stress
  3. dʒudʒu
  4. əsəs
IPA (American)
/əˈsɪdʒuəs/
IPA (British)
/əˈsɪdjuəs/
Respelling
uh-SID-joo-uhs
Syllables
4 — ə-SꞮ-dʒu-əs
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ə-SꞮ-dʒu-əs. “sɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/əˈsɪdʒuəs/

British

/əˈsɪdjuəs/

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

Watch out

Where “assiduous” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    ass-id-YOU-us

    the stress is on SID and the ending is an unstressed -oo-uhs

Meaning

What “assiduous” means

  1. adjective

    marked by care and persistent effort

    her assiduous attempts to learn French

Say it in a sentence

Her assiduous note-taking saved the project more than once.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

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

Questions

assiduous”, answered

How do you pronounce “assiduous”?

“assiduous” is pronounced /əˈsɪdʒuəs/ (uh-SID-joo-uhs) in American English and /əˈsɪdjuəs/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “sɪ”. Build it as ə-SꞮ-dʒu-əs, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “assiduous” have?

4: ə · sɪ · dʒu · əs. The beat lands on the second, “sɪ”.

Is “assiduous” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /əˈsɪdʒuəs/ (uh-SID-joo-uhs); British English says /əˈsɪdjuəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “assiduous” mean?

As an adjective: marked by care and persistent effort For example: “her assiduous attempts to learn French”

Where is the stress in “assiduous”?

Stress the second syllable: ə-SꞮ-dʒu-əs. “sɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “assiduous” and see every sound

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