Pronunciation

How to pronounce “fatuous

“fatuous” is pronounced /ˈfætʃəwəs/ (FA-chuh-wuhs) in American English and /fatʃuːəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “fæ”.
The sound

Say “fatuous” in 3 beats

Say it like this

fatuous

/ˈfætʃəwəs/

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

3 beats
  1. stress
  2. tʃətʃə
  3. wəswəs
IPA (American)
/ˈfætʃəwəs/
IPA (British)
/fatʃuːəs/
Respelling
FA-chuh-wuhs
Syllables
3 — FÆ-tʃə-wəs
Stress
Stress the first syllable: FÆ-tʃə-wəs. “fæ” 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

/ˈfætʃəwəs/

British

/fatʃuːəs/

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

Meaning

What “fatuous” means

  1. adjective

    devoid of intelligence

Say it in a sentence

That was a fatuous remark, and he knew it.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 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

fatuous”, answered

How do you pronounce “fatuous”?

“fatuous” is pronounced /ˈfætʃəwəs/ (FA-chuh-wuhs) in American English and /fatʃuːəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “fæ”. Build it as FÆ-tʃə-wəs, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “fatuous” have?

3: fæ · tʃə · wəs. The beat lands on the first, “fæ”.

Is “fatuous” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈfætʃəwəs/ (FA-chuh-wuhs); British English says /fatʃuːəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “fatuous” mean?

As an adjective: devoid of intelligence For example: “That was a fatuous remark, and he knew it.”

Where is the stress in “fatuous”?

Stress the first syllable: FÆ-tʃə-wəs. “fæ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “fatuous” 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.