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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “attenuate”

“attenuate” is pronounced /əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/ (uh-TE-nyoo-ayt) in American English and /ɐtɛnjuːeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ten”.
The sound

Say “attenuate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

attenuate

/əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/

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

4 beats
  1. atə
  2. tentɛstress
  3. uatnju
  4. eeɪt
IPA (American)
/əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/ɐtɛnjuːeɪt/
Respelling
uh-TE-nyoo-ayt
Syllables
4 — at-TEN-uat-e
Stress
Stress the second syllable: at-TEN-uat-e. “ten” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb, adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/

British

/ɐtɛnjuːeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “attenuate” means

  1. verb

    weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance)

  2. verb

    become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude

  3. adjective

    reduced in strength

    “the faded tones of an old recording”

Say it in a sentence

“Thick curtains attenuate the noise from the road outside.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
əschwatt×2ɛshort ennjyulong ooeɪlong a

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

Questions

“attenuate”, answered

How do you pronounce “attenuate”?

“attenuate” is pronounced /əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/ (uh-TE-nyoo-ayt) in American English and /ɐtɛnjuːeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ten”. Build it as at-TEN-uat-e, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “attenuate” have?

4: at · ten · uat · e. The beat lands on the second, “ten”.

Is “attenuate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /əˈtɛnjuˌeɪt/ (uh-TE-nyoo-ayt); British English says /ɐtɛnjuːeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “attenuate” mean?

As a verb: weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance) For example: “Thick curtains attenuate the noise from the road outside.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “attenuate”?

Stress the second syllable: at-TEN-uat-e. “ten” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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