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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “ineffable”

“ineffable” is pronounced /ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/ (i-NE-fuh-buhl) in American English and /ɪnɛfəbəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ef”.
The sound

Say “ineffable” in 4 beats

Say it like this

ineffable

/ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/

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

4 beats
  1. inɪ
  2. efnɛstress
  3. fabfə
  4. lebəl
IPA (American)
/ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/
IPA (British)
/ɪnɛfəbəl/
Respelling
i-NE-fuh-buhl
Syllables
4 — in-EF-fab-le
Stress
Stress the second syllable: in-EF-fab-le. “ef” 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

/ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/

British

/ɪnɛfəbəl/

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

Meaning

What “ineffable” means

  1. adjective

    defying expression or description

    “indefinable yearnings”

  2. adjective

    too sacred to be uttered

    “the ineffable name of the Deity”

Say it in a sentence

“The view from the top was, frankly, ineffable.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ɪshort innɛshort effəschwa×2bbll

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

Questions

“ineffable”, answered

How do you pronounce “ineffable”?

“ineffable” is pronounced /ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/ (i-NE-fuh-buhl) in American English and /ɪnɛfəbəl/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ef”. Build it as in-EF-fab-le, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “ineffable” have?

4: in · ef · fab · le. The beat lands on the second, “ef”.

Is “ineffable” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˌɪˈnɛfəbəl/ (i-NE-fuh-buhl); British English says /ɪnɛfəbəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “ineffable” mean?

As an adjective: defying expression or description For example: “indefinable yearnings” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “ineffable”?

Stress the second syllable: in-EF-fab-le. “ef” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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