How to pronounce “counterintuitive”
Say “counterintuitive” in 6 beats
counterintuitive
/ˌkaʊntɚɪnˈtuɪtɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- counkaʊn
- tertɚ
- inɪnstress
- tuittu
- ivɪ
- etɪv
- IPA (American)
- /ˌkaʊntɚɪnˈtuɪtɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/
- Respelling
- kown-tur-in-TOO-ih-tiv (UK -TYOO-)
- Syllables
- 6 — coun-ter-IN-tuit-iv-e
- Stress
- Stress the third syllable: coun-ter-IN-tuit-iv-e. “in” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Difficulty
- Legend — spelling and sound part company here
American and British are not the same here
/ˌkaʊntɚɪnˈtuɪtɪv/
/ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “counterintuitive” goes wrong
- Often heard
“KOWN-tur-in-too-ih-tiv”
the main stress is on TOO, inside intuitive
What “counterintuitive” means
- adjective
contrary to what common sense would suggest
Say it in a sentence
“The result is counterintuitive but every study finds it.”“counterintuitive”, answered
How do you pronounce “counterintuitive”?
“counterintuitive” is pronounced /ˌkaʊntɚɪnˈtuɪtɪv/ (kown-tur-in-TOO-ih-tiv (UK -TYOO-)) in American English and /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/ in British English — 6 syllables, stressed on “in”. Build it as coun-ter-IN-tuit-iv-e, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “counterintuitive” have?
6: coun · ter · in · tuit · iv · e. The beat lands on the third, “in”.
Is “counterintuitive” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌkaʊntɚɪnˈtuɪtɪv/ (kown-tur-in-TOO-ih-tiv (UK -TYOO-)); British English says /ˌkaʊntəɹɪnˈtjuːɪtɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “counterintuitive” mean?
As an adjective: contrary to what common sense would suggest For example: “The result is counterintuitive but every study finds it.”
Where is the stress in “counterintuitive”?
Stress the third syllable: coun-ter-IN-tuit-iv-e. “in” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “counterintuitive” 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.