Pronunciation

How to pronounce “deforestation

“deforestation” is pronounced /dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/ (di-faw-ri-STAY-shuhn) in American English and /diːfɒɹɪsteɪʃən/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “tat”.
The sound

Say “deforestation” in 5 beats

Say it like this

deforestation

/dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/

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

5 beats
  1. def
  2. or
  3. esɹɪ
  4. tatsteɪstress
  5. ionʃən
IPA (American)
/dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/
IPA (British)
/diːfɒɹɪsteɪʃən/
Respelling
di-faw-ri-STAY-shuhn
Syllables
5 — def-or-es-TAT-ion
Stress
Stress the fourth syllable: def-or-es-TAT-ion. “tat” 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

/dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/

British

/diːfɒɹɪsteɪʃən/

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

Meaning

What “deforestation” means

  1. noun

    the state of being clear of trees

  2. noun

    the removal of trees

Say it in a sentence

Deforestation upstream made the flooding far worse.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

11 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

deforestation”, answered

How do you pronounce “deforestation”?

“deforestation” is pronounced /dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/ (di-faw-ri-STAY-shuhn) in American English and /diːfɒɹɪsteɪʃən/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “tat”. Build it as def-or-es-TAT-ion, then run the fourth syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “deforestation” have?

5: def · or · es · tat · ion. The beat lands on the fourth, “tat”.

Is “deforestation” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /dɪˌfɔɹɪˈsteɪʃən/ (di-faw-ri-STAY-shuhn); British English says /diːfɒɹɪsteɪʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “deforestation” mean?

As a noun: the state of being clear of trees For example: “Deforestation upstream made the flooding far worse.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “deforestation”?

Stress the fourth syllable: def-or-es-TAT-ion. “tat” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “deforestation” and see every sound

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