sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “cacophony”

“cacophony” is pronounced /kæˈkɑfəni/ (ka-KAH-fuh-nee) in American English and /kɐkɒfəni/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “op”.
The sound

Say “cacophony” in 4 beats

Say it like this

cacophony

/kæˈkɑfəni/

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

4 beats
  1. cackæ
  2. opkɑstress
  3. honfə
  4. yni
IPA (American)
/kæˈkɑfəni/
IPA (British)
/kɐkɒfəni/
Respelling
ka-KAH-fuh-nee
Syllables
4 — cac-OP-hon-y
Stress
Stress the second syllable: cac-OP-hon-y. “op” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/kæˈkɑfəni/

British

/kɐkɒfəni/

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

Meaning

What “cacophony” means

  1. noun

    a loud harsh or strident noise

  2. noun

    loud confusing disagreeable sounds

Say it in a sentence

“A cacophony of car horns greeted us outside the station.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
kk×2æshort aɑahffəschwannilong e

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

Questions

“cacophony”, answered

How do you pronounce “cacophony”?

“cacophony” is pronounced /kæˈkɑfəni/ (ka-KAH-fuh-nee) in American English and /kɐkɒfəni/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “op”. Build it as cac-OP-hon-y, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “cacophony” have?

4: cac · op · hon · y. The beat lands on the second, “op”.

Is “cacophony” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /kæˈkɑfəni/ (ka-KAH-fuh-nee); British English says /kɐkɒfəni/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “cacophony” mean?

As a noun: a loud harsh or strident noise For example: “A cacophony of car horns greeted us outside the station.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “cacophony”?

Stress the second syllable: cac-OP-hon-y. “op” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “cacophony” 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.

Practise this word freeMore words with C