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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “iconoclast”

“iconoclast” is pronounced /ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/ (y-KAH-nuh-klast) in American English and /aɪkənɒklast/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “on”.
The sound

Say “iconoclast” in 4 beats

Say it like this

iconoclast

/ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/

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

4 beats
  1. icaɪ
  2. onkɑstress
  3. ocnə
  4. lastklæst
IPA (American)
/ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/
IPA (British)
/aɪkənɒklast/
Respelling
y-KAH-nuh-klast
Syllables
4 — ic-ON-oc-last
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ic-ON-oc-last. “on” 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

/ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/

British

/aɪkənɒklast/

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

Meaning

What “iconoclast” means

  1. noun

    a destroyer of images used in religious worship

  2. noun

    someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions

Say it in a sentence

“She was an iconoclast who questioned every rule at school.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
aɪlong ikk×2ɑahnnəschwallæshort asstt

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

Questions

“iconoclast”, answered

How do you pronounce “iconoclast”?

“iconoclast” is pronounced /ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/ (y-KAH-nuh-klast) in American English and /aɪkənɒklast/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “on”. Build it as ic-ON-oc-last, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “iconoclast” have?

4: ic · on · oc · last. The beat lands on the second, “on”.

Is “iconoclast” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst/ (y-KAH-nuh-klast); British English says /aɪkənɒklast/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “iconoclast” mean?

As a noun: a destroyer of images used in religious worship For example: “She was an iconoclast who questioned every rule at school.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “iconoclast”?

Stress the second syllable: ic-ON-oc-last. “on” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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