Pronunciation

How to pronounce “belie

“belie” is pronounced /bɪˈlaɪ/ (bi-LY) in American English and /bɪlaɪ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ie”.
The sound

Say “belie” in 2 beats

Say it like this

belie

/bɪˈlaɪ/

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

2 beats
  1. bel
  2. ielaɪstress
IPA (American)
/bɪˈlaɪ/
IPA (British)
/bɪlaɪ/
Respelling
bi-LY
Syllables
2 — bel-IE
Stress
Stress the second syllable: bel-IE. “ie” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/bɪˈlaɪ/

British

/bɪlaɪ/

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

Meaning

What “belie” means

  1. verb

    be in contradiction with

  2. verb

    represent falsely

    This statement misrepresents my intentions

Say it in a sentence

Those cheerful photographs belie a very difficult year for the family.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 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

belie”, answered

How do you pronounce “belie”?

“belie” is pronounced /bɪˈlaɪ/ (bi-LY) in American English and /bɪlaɪ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ie”. Build it as bel-IE, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “belie” have?

2: bel · ie. The beat lands on the second, “ie”.

Is “belie” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /bɪˈlaɪ/ (bi-LY); British English says /bɪlaɪ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “belie” mean?

As a verb: be in contradiction with For example: “Those cheerful photographs belie a very difficult year for the family.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “belie”?

Stress the second syllable: bel-IE. “ie” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “belie” 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.