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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “hyperbole”

“hyperbole” is pronounced /haɪˈpɝbəli/ (hy-PUR-buh-lee) in American English and /haɪˈpɜːbəli/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “er”.
The sound

Say “hyperbole” in 4 beats

Say it like this

hyperbole

/haɪˈpɝbəli/

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

4 beats
  1. hyphaɪ
  2. erpɝstress
  3. bolbə
  4. eli
IPA (American)
/haɪˈpɝbəli/
IPA (British)
/haɪˈpɜːbəli/
Respelling
hy-PUR-buh-lee
Syllables
4 — hyp-ER-bol-e
Stress
Stress the second syllable: hyp-ER-bol-e. “er” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/haɪˈpɝbəli/

British

/haɪˈpɜːbəli/

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

Watch out

Where “hyperbole” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    “HY-per-bowl”/ˈhaɪpɚboʊl/

    four syllables with the final e sounded: hy-PUR-buh-lee

Meaning

What “hyperbole” means

  1. noun

    extravagant exaggeration

Say it in a sentence

“His description of the traffic was pure hyperbole, as usual.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
hhaɪlong ippɝerbbəschwallilong e

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

Questions

“hyperbole”, answered

How do you pronounce “hyperbole”?

“hyperbole” is pronounced /haɪˈpɝbəli/ (hy-PUR-buh-lee) in American English and /haɪˈpɜːbəli/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “er”. Build it as hyp-ER-bol-e, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “hyperbole” have?

4: hyp · er · bol · e. The beat lands on the second, “er”.

Is “hyperbole” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /haɪˈpɝbəli/ (hy-PUR-buh-lee); British English says /haɪˈpɜːbəli/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “hyperbole” mean?

As a noun: extravagant exaggeration For example: “His description of the traffic was pure hyperbole, as usual.”

Where is the stress in “hyperbole”?

Stress the second syllable: hyp-ER-bol-e. “er” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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