Pronunciation

How to pronounce “placate

“placate” is pronounced /ˈpleɪkeɪt/ (PLAY-kayt) in American English and /plɐkeɪt/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “pleɪ”.
The sound

Say “placate” in 2 beats

Say it like this

placate

/ˈpleɪkeɪt/

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

2 beats
  1. pleɪpleɪstress
  2. keɪtkeɪt
IPA (American)
/ˈpleɪkeɪt/
IPA (British)
/plɐkeɪt/
Respelling
PLAY-kayt
Syllables
2 — PLEꞮ-keɪt
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PLEꞮ-keɪt. “pleɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls 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

/ˈpleɪkeɪt/

British

/plɐkeɪt/

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

Meaning

What “placate” means

  1. verb

    cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

    She managed to mollify the angry customer

Say it in a sentence

Nothing we said could placate the driver behind us.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

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

Questions

placate”, answered

How do you pronounce “placate”?

“placate” is pronounced /ˈpleɪkeɪt/ (PLAY-kayt) in American English and /plɐkeɪt/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “pleɪ”. Build it as PLEꞮ-keɪt, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “placate” have?

2: pleɪ · keɪt. The beat lands on the first, “pleɪ”.

Is “placate” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpleɪkeɪt/ (PLAY-kayt); British English says /plɐkeɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “placate” mean?

As a verb: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of For example: “She managed to mollify the angry customer”

Where is the stress in “placate”?

Stress the first syllable: PLEꞮ-keɪt. “pleɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “placate” 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.