How to pronounce “penurious”
Say “penurious” in 4 beats
penurious
/ˌpɛˈnjuɹiəs/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pɛnjʊəɹiəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- pɛpɛ
- njunjustress
- ɹiɹi
- əsəs
- IPA (American)
- /ˌpɛˈnjuɹiəs/
- IPA (British)
- /pɛnjʊəɹiəs/
- Respelling
- pe-NYOO-ree-uhs
- Syllables
- 4 — pɛ-NJU-ɹi-əs
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: pɛ-NJU-ɹi-əs. “nju” 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
American and British are not the same here
/ˌpɛˈnjuɹiəs/
/pɛnjʊəɹiəs/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “penurious” means
- adjective
not having enough money to pay for necessities
- adjective
excessively unwilling to spend
“parsimonious thrift relieved by few generous impulses”
Say it in a sentence
“Their penurious first year involved a great deal of soup.”“penurious”, answered
How do you pronounce “penurious”?
“penurious” is pronounced /ˌpɛˈnjuɹiəs/ (pe-NYOO-ree-uhs) in American English and /pɛnjʊəɹiəs/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “nju”. Build it as pɛ-NJU-ɹi-əs, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “penurious” have?
4: pɛ · nju · ɹi · əs. The beat lands on the second, “nju”.
Is “penurious” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌpɛˈnjuɹiəs/ (pe-NYOO-ree-uhs); British English says /pɛnjʊəɹiəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “penurious” mean?
As an adjective: not having enough money to pay for necessities For example: “Their penurious first year involved a great deal of soup.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “penurious”?
Stress the second syllable: pɛ-NJU-ɹi-əs. “nju” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “penurious” 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.