How to pronounce “exhaustive”
Say “exhaustive” in 3 beats
exhaustive
/ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɛɡzɔːstɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɪɡɪɡ
- zɔzɔstress
- stɪvstɪv
- IPA (American)
- /ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /ɛɡzɔːstɪv/
- Respelling
- ig-ZAW-stiv
- Syllables
- 3 — ɪɡ-ZƆ-stɪv
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ɪɡ-ZƆ-stɪv. “zɔ” 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
/ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/
/ɛɡzɔːstɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “exhaustive” means
- adjective
performed comprehensively and completely
“an exhaustive study”
Say it in a sentence
“The search was exhaustive, yet the ring never turned up.”“exhaustive”, answered
How do you pronounce “exhaustive”?
“exhaustive” is pronounced /ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/ (ig-ZAW-stiv) in American English and /ɛɡzɔːstɪv/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “zɔ”. Build it as ɪɡ-ZƆ-stɪv, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “exhaustive” have?
3: ɪɡ · zɔ · stɪv. The beat lands on the second, “zɔ”.
Is “exhaustive” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ɪɡˈzɔstɪv/ (ig-ZAW-stiv); British English says /ɛɡzɔːstɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “exhaustive” mean?
As an adjective: performed comprehensively and completely For example: “an exhaustive study”
Where is the stress in “exhaustive”?
Stress the second syllable: ɪɡ-ZƆ-stɪv. “zɔ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “exhaustive” 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.