How to pronounce “intimate”
“intimate” is said two ways
/ˈɪntəmət/
IN-tim-uht
Meaning close or private. Ends in a reduced -uht.
/ˈɪntəˌmeɪt/
IN-ti-mayt
To hint at something. Ends in a full -mayt.
Listen for the vowel, not the letters
The spelling never moves; the sounds inside it do. Practise the two back to back, so your mouth stops defaulting to whichever one you learnt first.Both forms live in one sentence here: “He did intimate, in an intimate aside, that he was leaving.”Each button plays a short phrase rather than the bare word: the model voice takes its stress from the words around it, so asking it for “intimate” on its own would play one reading twice instead of the adjective and the verb. Read the transcription as you listen.
Say “intimate” in 3 beats
intimate
/ˈɪntəmət/
Everything in this card describes the adjective form. As a verb it is /ˈɪntəˌmeɪt/.
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈɪntɪmət/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɪnɪnstress
- tətə
- mətmət
- IPA (American)
- /ˈɪntəmət/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈɪntɪmət/
- Respelling
- IN-tim-uht (adjective) · IN-ti-mayt (verb)
- Syllables
- 3 — ꞮN-tə-mət
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: ꞮN-tə-mət. “ɪn” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
This is the adjective form in two accents — a separate question from the two pronunciations above, which are the same accent saying two different words.
/ˈɪntəmət/
/ˈɪntɪmət/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “intimate” goes wrong
- Often heard
“an IN-ti-mayt dinner”
the adjective ends in -uht; only the verb, meaning to hint, ends in -mayt
What “intimate” means
- noun
someone to whom private matters are confided
- verb
give to understand
“I insinuated that I did not like his wife”
- verb
imply as a possibility
“The evidence suggests a need for more clarification”
Say it in a sentence
“He did intimate, in an intimate aside, that he was leaving.”“intimate”, answered
How do you pronounce “intimate”?
“intimate” has two pronunciations: /ˈɪntəmət/ as an adjective and /ˈɪntəˌmeɪt/ as a verb — the part of speech decides which. The spelling never changes; the sounds inside it do, and nothing on the page tells you which one a sentence wants. The transcription and syllable breakdown below describe the adjective form. Build it as ꞮN-tə-mət, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “intimate” have?
3: ɪn · tə · mət. The beat lands on the first, “ɪn”.
Which pronunciation of “intimate” is correct?
Both are. /ˈɪntəmət/ (IN-tim-uht) as an adjective; /ˈɪntəˌmeɪt/ (IN-ti-mayt) as a verb. Nothing about the spelling tells you which — the sentence does, and the two are as different as any two words. Both appear here: “He did intimate, in an intimate aside, that he was leaving.”
Is “intimate” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈɪntəmət/ (IN-tim-uht); British English says /ˈɪntɪmət/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “intimate” mean?
As a noun: someone to whom private matters are confided For example: “He did intimate, in an intimate aside, that he was leaving.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “intimate”?
Stress the first syllable: ꞮN-tə-mət. “ɪn” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “intimate” 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.