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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “fluctuate”

“fluctuate” is pronounced /ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/ (FLUK-chuh-wayt) in American English and /flʌktʃuːeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “fluc”.
The sound

Say “fluctuate” in 3 beats

Say it like this

fluctuate

/ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/

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

3 beats
  1. flucflʌkstress
  2. tuattʃə
  3. eweɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/
IPA (British)
/flʌktʃuːeɪt/
Respelling
FLUK-chuh-wayt
Syllables
3 — FLUC-tuat-e
Stress
Stress the first syllable: FLUC-tuat-e. “fluc” 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

/ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/

British

/flʌktʃuːeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “fluctuate” means

  1. verb

    cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern

  2. verb

    move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern

    “the line on the monitor vacillated”

  3. verb

    be unstable

    “The stock market fluctuates”

Say it in a sentence

“Prices fluctuate a great deal between summer and winter.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
ffllʌshort ukktʃchəschwawweɪlong att

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

Questions

“fluctuate”, answered

How do you pronounce “fluctuate”?

“fluctuate” is pronounced /ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/ (FLUK-chuh-wayt) in American English and /flʌktʃuːeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “fluc”. Build it as FLUC-tuat-e, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “fluctuate” have?

3: fluc · tuat · e. The beat lands on the first, “fluc”.

Is “fluctuate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/ (FLUK-chuh-wayt); British English says /flʌktʃuːeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “fluctuate” mean?

As a verb: cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern For example: “Prices fluctuate a great deal between summer and winter.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “fluctuate”?

Stress the first syllable: FLUC-tuat-e. “fluc” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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