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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “debatable”

“debatable” is pronounced /dəˈbeɪtəbəl/ (duh-BAY-tuh-buhl) in American English and /dɪbeɪtəbəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “at”.
The sound

Say “debatable” in 4 beats

Say it like this

debatable

/dəˈbeɪtəbəl/

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

4 beats
  1. debdə
  2. atbeɪstress
  3. abtə
  4. lebəl
IPA (American)
/dəˈbeɪtəbəl/
IPA (British)
/dɪbeɪtəbəl/
Respelling
duh-BAY-tuh-buhl
Syllables
4 — deb-AT-ab-le
Stress
Stress the second syllable: deb-AT-ab-le. “at” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/dəˈbeɪtəbəl/

British

/dɪbeɪtəbəl/

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

Meaning

What “debatable” means

  1. adjective

    open to doubt or debate

    “If you ever get married, which seems to be extremely problematic”

  2. adjective

    open to argument or debate

    “that is a moot question”

  3. adjective

    capable of being disproved

Say it in a sentence

“Whether the change helped anyone is still debatable.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ddəschwa×3bb×2eɪlong attll

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

Questions

“debatable”, answered

How do you pronounce “debatable”?

“debatable” is pronounced /dəˈbeɪtəbəl/ (duh-BAY-tuh-buhl) in American English and /dɪbeɪtəbəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “at”. Build it as deb-AT-ab-le, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “debatable” have?

4: deb · at · ab · le. The beat lands on the second, “at”.

Is “debatable” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /dəˈbeɪtəbəl/ (duh-BAY-tuh-buhl); British English says /dɪbeɪtəbəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “debatable” mean?

As an adjective: open to doubt or debate For example: “If you ever get married, which seems to be extremely problematic” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “debatable”?

Stress the second syllable: deb-AT-ab-le. “at” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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