How to pronounce “asterisk”
Say “asterisk” in 3 beats
asterisk
/ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈastəɹɪsk/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- asæstress
- terstə
- iskɹɪsk
- IPA (American)
- /ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈastəɹɪsk/
- Respelling
- AS-tuh-risk
- Syllables
- 3 — AS-ter-isk
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: AS-ter-isk. “as” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/
/ˈastəɹɪsk/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “asterisk” goes wrong
- Often heard
“AS-ter-ix”
the ending is -risk, with the r before the i
What “asterisk” means
- noun
a star-shaped character * used in printing
- verb
mark with an asterisk
“Linguists star unacceptable sentences”
Say it in a sentence
“An asterisk marks the words that came from the second edition.”“asterisk”, answered
How do you pronounce “asterisk”?
“asterisk” is pronounced /ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/ (AS-tuh-risk) in American English and /ˈastəɹɪsk/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “as”. Build it as AS-ter-isk, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “asterisk” have?
3: as · ter · isk. The beat lands on the first, “as”.
Is “asterisk” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈæstəˌɹɪsk/ (AS-tuh-risk); British English says /ˈastəɹɪsk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “asterisk” mean?
As a noun: a star-shaped character * used in printing For example: “An asterisk marks the words that came from the second edition.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “asterisk”?
Stress the first syllable: AS-ter-isk. “as” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “asterisk” 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.