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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “exemplify”

“exemplify” is pronounced /ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/ (ig-ZEM-pluh-fy) in American English and /ɛɡzɛmplɪfaɪ/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “emp”.
The sound

Say “exemplify” in 4 beats

Say it like this

exemplify

/ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/

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

4 beats
  1. exɪɡ
  2. empzɛmstress
  3. lifplə
  4. yfaɪ
IPA (American)
/ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/
IPA (British)
/ɛɡzɛmplɪfaɪ/
Respelling
ig-ZEM-pluh-fy
Syllables
4 — ex-EMP-lif-y
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ex-EMP-lif-y. “emp” 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

/ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/

British

/ɛɡzɛmplɪfaɪ/

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

Meaning

What “exemplify” means

  1. verb

    be characteristic of

    “This compositional style is exemplified by this fugue”

  2. verb

    clarify by giving an example of

Say it in a sentence

“These low stone cottages exemplify the local style of building.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

10 sounds, in the order you say them
ɪshort iɡgzzɛshort emmpplləschwaffaɪlong i

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

Questions

“exemplify”, answered

How do you pronounce “exemplify”?

“exemplify” is pronounced /ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/ (ig-ZEM-pluh-fy) in American English and /ɛɡzɛmplɪfaɪ/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “emp”. Build it as ex-EMP-lif-y, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “exemplify” have?

4: ex · emp · lif · y. The beat lands on the second, “emp”.

Is “exemplify” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɪɡˈzɛmpləˌfaɪ/ (ig-ZEM-pluh-fy); British English says /ɛɡzɛmplɪfaɪ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “exemplify” mean?

As a verb: be characteristic of For example: “This compositional style is exemplified by this fugue” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “exemplify”?

Stress the second syllable: ex-EMP-lif-y. “emp” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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