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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “desultory”

“desultory” is pronounced /ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/ (DE-suhl-taw-ree) in American English and /dɛsəltəɹi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “des”.
The sound

Say “desultory” in 4 beats

Say it like this

desultory

/ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/

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

4 beats
  1. desdɛstress
  2. ulsəl
  3. tortɔ
  4. yɹi
IPA (American)
/ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/
IPA (British)
/dɛsəltəɹi/
Respelling
DE-suhl-taw-ree
Syllables
4 — DES-ul-tor-y
Stress
Stress the first syllable: DES-ul-tor-y. “des” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/

British

/dɛsəltəɹi/

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

Meaning

What “desultory” means

  1. adjective

    marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another

    “desultory thoughts”

Say it in a sentence

“Their desultory chat drifted from football to plumbing to holidays.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
ddɛshort essəschwallttɔawɹrilong e

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

Questions

“desultory”, answered

How do you pronounce “desultory”?

“desultory” is pronounced /ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/ (DE-suhl-taw-ree) in American English and /dɛsəltəɹi/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “des”. Build it as DES-ul-tor-y, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “desultory” have?

4: des · ul · tor · y. The beat lands on the first, “des”.

Is “desultory” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈdɛsəlˌtɔɹi/ (DE-suhl-taw-ree); British English says /dɛsəltəɹi/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “desultory” mean?

As an adjective: marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another For example: “desultory thoughts”

Where is the stress in “desultory”?

Stress the first syllable: DES-ul-tor-y. “des” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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