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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “perspicacious”

“perspicacious” is pronounced /pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/ (puh-spuh-KAY-shuhs) in American English and /pəspɪkeɪʃəs/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ac”.
The sound

Say “perspicacious” in 4 beats

Say it like this

perspicacious

/pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/

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

4 beats
  1. perspɚ
  2. picspə
  3. ackeɪstress
  4. iousʃəs
IPA (American)
/pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/
IPA (British)
/pəspɪkeɪʃəs/
Respelling
puh-spuh-KAY-shuhs
Syllables
4 — pers-pic-AC-ious
Stress
Stress the third syllable: pers-pic-AC-ious. “ac” 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

/pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/

British

/pəspɪkeɪʃəs/

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

Meaning

What “perspicacious” means

  1. adjective

    acutely insightful and wise

    “much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument”

  2. adjective

    mentally acute or penetratingly discerning

    “too clear-eyed not to see what problems would follow”

Say it in a sentence

“One perspicacious pupil spotted the error on the blackboard.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
pp×2ɚschwa×3ss×2kkeɪlong aʃsh

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

Questions

“perspicacious”, answered

How do you pronounce “perspicacious”?

“perspicacious” is pronounced /pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/ (puh-spuh-KAY-shuhs) in American English and /pəspɪkeɪʃəs/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ac”. Build it as pers-pic-AC-ious, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “perspicacious” have?

4: pers · pic · ac · ious. The beat lands on the third, “ac”.

Is “perspicacious” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɚspəˈkeɪʃəs/ (puh-spuh-KAY-shuhs); British English says /pəspɪkeɪʃəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “perspicacious” mean?

As an adjective: acutely insightful and wise For example: “much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “perspicacious”?

Stress the third syllable: pers-pic-AC-ious. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

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