Pronunciation

How to pronounce “bouquet

“bouquet” is pronounced /boʊˈkeɪ/ (boh-KAY) in American English and /buːˈkeɪ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “uet”.
The sound

Say “bouquet” in 2 beats

Say it like this

bouquet

/boʊˈkeɪ/

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

2 beats
  1. bouqboʊ
  2. uetkeɪstress
IPA (American)
/boʊˈkeɪ/
IPA (British)
/buːˈkeɪ/
Respelling
boh-KAY
Syllables
2 — bouq-UET
Stress
Stress the second syllable: bouq-UET. “uet” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/boʊˈkeɪ/

British

/buːˈkeɪ/

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

Watch out

Where “bouquet” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    BOW-kwet

    the qu is a k and the t is silent: boh-KAY

Meaning

What “bouquet” means

  1. noun

    an arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present

  2. noun

    a pleasingly sweet olfactory property

Say it in a sentence

She carried a small bouquet of wildflowers from her own garden.
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

bouquet”, answered

How do you pronounce “bouquet”?

“bouquet” is pronounced /boʊˈkeɪ/ (boh-KAY) in American English and /buːˈkeɪ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “uet”. Build it as bouq-UET, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “bouquet” have?

2: bouq · uet. The beat lands on the second, “uet”.

Is “bouquet” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /boʊˈkeɪ/ (boh-KAY); British English says /buːˈkeɪ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “bouquet” mean?

As a noun: an arrangement of flowers that is usually given as a present For example: “She carried a small bouquet of wildflowers from her own garden.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “bouquet”?

Stress the second syllable: bouq-UET. “uet” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “bouquet” 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.