Pronunciation

How to pronounce “ceremony

“ceremony” is pronounced /ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/ (SE-ruh-moh-nee) in American English and /sɛɹɪməni/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “cer”.
The sound

Say “ceremony” in 4 beats

Say it like this

ceremony

/ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/

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

4 beats
  1. cerstress
  2. emɹə
  3. onmoʊ
  4. yni
IPA (American)
/ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/
IPA (British)
/sɛɹɪməni/
Respelling
SE-ruh-moh-nee
Syllables
4 — CER-em-on-y
Stress
Stress the first syllable: CER-em-on-y. “cer” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall 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

/ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/

British

/sɛɹɪməni/

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

Meaning

What “ceremony” means

  1. noun

    a formal event performed on a special occasion

    a ceremony commemorating Pearl Harbor

  2. noun

    any activity that is performed in an especially solemn elaborate or formal way

    the ceremony of smelling the cork and tasting the wine

  3. noun

    the proper or conventional behavior on some solemn occasion

    an inaugural ceremony

Say it in a sentence

The ceremony lasted twenty minutes and then everyone ate outside.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 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

ceremony”, answered

How do you pronounce “ceremony”?

“ceremony” is pronounced /ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/ (SE-ruh-moh-nee) in American English and /sɛɹɪməni/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “cer”. Build it as CER-em-on-y, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “ceremony” have?

4: cer · em · on · y. The beat lands on the first, “cer”.

Is “ceremony” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈsɛɹəˌmoʊni/ (SE-ruh-moh-nee); British English says /sɛɹɪməni/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “ceremony” mean?

As a noun: a formal event performed on a special occasion For example: “a ceremony commemorating Pearl Harbor” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “ceremony”?

Stress the first syllable: CER-em-on-y. “cer” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “ceremony” and see every sound

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