How to pronounce “characteristic”
Say “characteristic” in 5 beats
characteristic
/ˌkɛɹəktɚˈɪstɪk/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kaɹɪktəɹɪstɪk/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- charkɛ
- acɹək
- tertɚ
- isɪstress
- ticstɪk
- IPA (American)
- /ˌkɛɹəktɚˈɪstɪk/
- IPA (British)
- /kaɹɪktəɹɪstɪk/
- Respelling
- ke-ruhk-tuh-I-stik
- Syllables
- 5 — char-ac-ter-IS-tic
- Stress
- Stress the fourth syllable: char-ac-ter-IS-tic. “is” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˌkɛɹəktɚˈɪstɪk/
/kaɹɪktəɹɪstɪk/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “characteristic” means
- noun
a prominent attribute or aspect of something
“the map showed roads and other features”
- noun
a distinguishing quality
- noun
the integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2
Say it in a sentence
“That dry humour is characteristic of everyone in the family.”“characteristic”, answered
How do you pronounce “characteristic”?
“characteristic” is pronounced /ˌkɛɹəktɚˈɪstɪk/ (ke-ruhk-tuh-I-stik) in American English and /kaɹɪktəɹɪstɪk/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “is”. Build it as char-ac-ter-IS-tic, then run the fourth syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “characteristic” have?
5: char · ac · ter · is · tic. The beat lands on the fourth, “is”.
Is “characteristic” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌkɛɹəktɚˈɪstɪk/ (ke-ruhk-tuh-I-stik); British English says /kaɹɪktəɹɪstɪk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “characteristic” mean?
As a noun: a prominent attribute or aspect of something For example: “the map showed roads and other features” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “characteristic”?
Stress the fourth syllable: char-ac-ter-IS-tic. “is” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “characteristic” 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.