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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “contemplative”

“contemplative” is pronounced /kənˈtɛmplətɪv/ (kuhn-TEM-pluh-tiv) in American English and /kəntəmplətɪv/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “tɛm”.
The sound

Say “contemplative” in 4 beats

Say it like this

contemplative

/kənˈtɛmplətɪv/

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

4 beats
  1. kənkən
  2. tɛmtɛmstress
  3. pləplə
  4. tɪvtɪv
IPA (American)
/kənˈtɛmplətɪv/
IPA (British)
/kəntəmplətɪv/
Respelling
kuhn-TEM-pluh-tiv
Syllables
4 — kən-TƐM-plə-tɪv
Stress
Stress the second syllable: kən-TƐM-plə-tɪv. “tɛm” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/kənˈtɛmplətɪv/

British

/kəntəmplətɪv/

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

Meaning

What “contemplative” means

  1. noun

    a person devoted to the contemplative life

  2. adjective

    deeply or seriously thoughtful

    “Byron lives on not only in his poetry, but also in his creation of the 'Byronic hero' - the persona of a brooding melancholy young man”

Say it in a sentence

“He has become a contemplative since retiring to the coast.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

10 sounds, in the order you say them
kkəschwa×2nntt×2ɛshort emmppllɪshort ivv

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

Questions

“contemplative”, answered

How do you pronounce “contemplative”?

“contemplative” is pronounced /kənˈtɛmplətɪv/ (kuhn-TEM-pluh-tiv) in American English and /kəntəmplətɪv/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “tɛm”. Build it as kən-TƐM-plə-tɪv, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “contemplative” have?

4: kən · tɛm · plə · tɪv. The beat lands on the second, “tɛm”.

Is “contemplative” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /kənˈtɛmplətɪv/ (kuhn-TEM-pluh-tiv); British English says /kəntəmplətɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “contemplative” mean?

As a noun: a person devoted to the contemplative life For example: “He has become a contemplative since retiring to the coast.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “contemplative”?

Stress the second syllable: kən-TƐM-plə-tɪv. “tɛm” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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