How to pronounce “ethereal”
Say “ethereal” in 4 beats
ethereal
/ɪˈθɪɹiəl/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɪˈθɪəɹɪəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɪɪ
- θɪθɪstress
- ɹiɹi
- ələl
- IPA (American)
- /ɪˈθɪɹiəl/
- IPA (British)
- /ɪˈθɪəɹɪəl/
- Respelling
- ih-THEER-ee-uhl
- Syllables
- 4 — ɪ-ΘꞮ-ɹi-əl
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ɪ-ΘꞮ-ɹi-əl. “θɪ” 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
/ɪˈθɪɹiəl/
/ɪˈθɪəɹɪəl/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “ethereal” goes wrong
- Often heard
“eth-ER-ee-al”
the stress is on THEER, with the vowel of here
What “ethereal” means
- adjective
characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; as impalpable or intangible as air; - Thomas Carlyle
“figures light and aeriform come unlooked for and melt away”
- adjective
of or containing or dissolved in ether
“ethereal solution”
- adjective
of heaven or the spirit
“celestial peace”
Say it in a sentence
“The light in the chapel had an ethereal, almost blue quality.”The sounds inside this word
Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.
“ethereal”, answered
How do you pronounce “ethereal”?
“ethereal” is pronounced /ɪˈθɪɹiəl/ (ih-THEER-ee-uhl) in American English and /ɪˈθɪəɹɪəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “θɪ”. Build it as ɪ-ΘꞮ-ɹi-əl, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “ethereal” have?
4: ɪ · θɪ · ɹi · əl. The beat lands on the second, “θɪ”.
Is “ethereal” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ɪˈθɪɹiəl/ (ih-THEER-ee-uhl); British English says /ɪˈθɪəɹɪəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “ethereal” mean?
As an adjective: characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; as impalpable or intangible as air; - Thomas Carlyle For example: “figures light and aeriform come unlooked for and melt away” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “ethereal”?
Stress the second syllable: ɪ-ΘꞮ-ɹi-əl. “θɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “ethereal” 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.