How to pronounce “disastrous”
Say “disastrous” in 3 beats
disastrous
/dɪˈzæstɹəs/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /dɪˈzɑːstɹəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- disdɪ
- astzæstress
- rousstɹəs
- IPA (American)
- /dɪˈzæstɹəs/
- IPA (British)
- /dɪˈzɑːstɹəs/
- Respelling
- dih-ZAS-truhs
- Syllables
- 3 — dis-AST-rous
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: dis-AST-rous. “ast” 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
American and British are not the same here
/dɪˈzæstɹəs/
/dɪˈzɑːstɹəs/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “disastrous” goes wrong
- Often heard
“dis-AS-ter-us”
three syllables, not four: there is no -ter- before the ending
What “disastrous” means
- adjective
(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin; ; ; ; - Charles Darwin; - Douglas MacArthur
“the stock market crashed on Black Friday”
Say it in a sentence
“The first rehearsal was disastrous, but the show went well.”“disastrous”, answered
How do you pronounce “disastrous”?
“disastrous” is pronounced /dɪˈzæstɹəs/ (dih-ZAS-truhs) in American English and /dɪˈzɑːstɹəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ast”. Build it as dis-AST-rous, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “disastrous” have?
3: dis · ast · rous. The beat lands on the second, “ast”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (dis-AS-ter-us), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.
Is “disastrous” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /dɪˈzæstɹəs/ (dih-ZAS-truhs); British English says /dɪˈzɑːstɹəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “disastrous” mean?
As an adjective: (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin; ; ; ; - Charles Darwin; - Douglas MacArthur For example: “the stock market crashed on Black Friday”
Where is the stress in “disastrous”?
Stress the second syllable: dis-AST-rous. “ast” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “disastrous” 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.