Pronunciation

How to pronounce “ebullient

“ebullient” is pronounced /ɪˈbʌljənt/ (ih-BUL-yuhnt) in American English and /ɪˈbʌlɪənt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ul”.
The sound

Say “ebullient” in 3 beats

Say it like this

ebullient

/ɪˈbʌljənt/

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

3 beats
  1. ebɪ
  2. ulstress
  3. lientljənt
IPA (American)
/ɪˈbʌljənt/
IPA (British)
/ɪˈbʌlɪənt/
Respelling
ih-BUL-yuhnt
Syllables
3 — eb-UL-lient
Stress
Stress the second syllable: eb-UL-lient. “ul” 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

/ɪˈbʌljənt/

British

/ɪˈbʌlɪənt/

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

Watch out

Where “ebullient” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    ee-BOO-lee-ent

    the u is the vowel of cup and the -ient collapses to yuhnt

Meaning

What “ebullient” means

  1. adjective

    joyously unrestrained

Say it in a sentence

She was ebullient for days after the exhibition opened.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 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

ebullient”, answered

How do you pronounce “ebullient”?

“ebullient” is pronounced /ɪˈbʌljənt/ (ih-BUL-yuhnt) in American English and /ɪˈbʌlɪənt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ul”. Build it as eb-UL-lient, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “ebullient” have?

3: eb · ul · lient. The beat lands on the second, “ul”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (ee-BOO-lee-ent), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.

Is “ebullient” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɪˈbʌljənt/ (ih-BUL-yuhnt); British English says /ɪˈbʌlɪənt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “ebullient” mean?

As an adjective: joyously unrestrained For example: “She was ebullient for days after the exhibition opened.”

Where is the stress in “ebullient”?

Stress the second syllable: eb-UL-lient. “ul” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “ebullient” 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.