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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “equivocate”

“equivocate” is pronounced /ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/ (i-KWI-vuh-kayt) in American English and /ɪkwɪvəkeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “kwɪ”.
The sound

Say “equivocate” in 4 beats

Say it like this

equivocate

/ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/

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

4 beats
  1. ɪɪ
  2. kwɪkwɪstress
  3. vəvə
  4. keɪtkeɪt
IPA (American)
/ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/
IPA (British)
/ɪkwɪvəkeɪt/
Respelling
i-KWI-vuh-kayt
Syllables
4 — ɪ-KWꞮ-və-keɪt
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ɪ-KWꞮ-və-keɪt. “kwɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/

British

/ɪkwɪvəkeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “equivocate” means

  1. verb

    be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

Say it in a sentence

“Just answer plainly and do not equivocate this time.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ɪshort i×2kk×2wwvvəschwaeɪlong att

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

Questions

“equivocate”, answered

How do you pronounce “equivocate”?

“equivocate” is pronounced /ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/ (i-KWI-vuh-kayt) in American English and /ɪkwɪvəkeɪt/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “kwɪ”. Build it as ɪ-KWꞮ-və-keɪt, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “equivocate” have?

4: ɪ · kwɪ · və · keɪt. The beat lands on the second, “kwɪ”.

Is “equivocate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɪˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt/ (i-KWI-vuh-kayt); British English says /ɪkwɪvəkeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “equivocate” mean?

As a verb: be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information For example: “Just answer plainly and do not equivocate this time.”

Where is the stress in “equivocate”?

Stress the second syllable: ɪ-KWꞮ-və-keɪt. “kwɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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