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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “obviate”

“obviate” is pronounced /ˈɑbviˌeɪt/ (AHB-vee-ayt) in American English and /ɒbvɪeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ob”.
The sound

Say “obviate” in 3 beats

Say it like this

obviate

/ˈɑbviˌeɪt/

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

3 beats
  1. obɑbstress
  2. viatvi
  3. eeɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈɑbviˌeɪt/
IPA (British)
/ɒbvɪeɪt/
Respelling
AHB-vee-ayt
Syllables
3 — OB-viat-e
Stress
Stress the first syllable: OB-viat-e. “ob” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈɑbviˌeɪt/

British

/ɒbvɪeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “obviate” means

  1. verb

    do away with

  2. verb

    prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening

    “Let's avoid a confrontation”

Say it in a sentence

“A second key would obviate all this fuss at the door.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ɑahbbvvilong eeɪlong att

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

Questions

“obviate”, answered

How do you pronounce “obviate”?

“obviate” is pronounced /ˈɑbviˌeɪt/ (AHB-vee-ayt) in American English and /ɒbvɪeɪt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ob”. Build it as OB-viat-e, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “obviate” have?

3: ob · viat · e. The beat lands on the first, “ob”.

Is “obviate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈɑbviˌeɪt/ (AHB-vee-ayt); British English says /ɒbvɪeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “obviate” mean?

As a verb: do away with For example: “A second key would obviate all this fuss at the door.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “obviate”?

Stress the first syllable: OB-viat-e. “ob” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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