sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “negligible”

“negligible” is pronounced /ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/ (NE-gluh-juh-buhl) in American English and /nɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/ in British English, and /ˈnɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “neg”.
The sound

Say “negligible” in 4 beats

Say it like this

negligible

/ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/

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

4 beats
  1. negnɛstress
  2. ligɡlə
  3. ibdʒə
  4. lebəl
IPA (American)
/ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/
IPA (British)
/nɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/
Also accepted
/ˈnɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/
Respelling
NE-gluh-juh-buhl
Syllables
4 — NEG-lig-ib-le
Stress
Stress the first syllable: NEG-lig-ib-le. “neg” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/

British

/nɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/

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

Meaning

What “negligible” means

  1. adjective

    so small as to be meaningless; insignificant

    “the effect was negligible”

  2. adjective

    not worth considering

    “he considered the prize too paltry for the lives it must cost”

Say it in a sentence

“The difference in price was negligible, so we bought both.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
nnɛshort eɡgll×2əschwa×3dʒjbb

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

Questions

“negligible”, answered

How do you pronounce “negligible”?

“negligible” is pronounced /ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/ (NE-gluh-juh-buhl) in American English and /nɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/ in British English, and /ˈnɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/ is also accepted — 4 syllables, stressed on “neg”. Build it as NEG-lig-ib-le, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “negligible” have?

4: neg · lig · ib · le. The beat lands on the first, “neg”.

Is “negligible” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈnɛɡlədʒəbəl/ (NE-gluh-juh-buhl); British English says /nɛɡlɪdʒəbəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “negligible” mean?

As an adjective: so small as to be meaningless; insignificant For example: “the effect was negligible” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “negligible”?

Stress the first syllable: NEG-lig-ib-le. “neg” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “negligible” 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.

Practise this word freeMore words with N