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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “ponderous”

“ponderous” is pronounced /ˈpɑndɚəs/ (PAHN-duh-uhs) in American English and /pɒndəɹəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pon”.
The sound

Say “ponderous” in 3 beats

Say it like this

ponderous

/ˈpɑndɚəs/

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

3 beats
  1. ponpɑnstress
  2. derdɚ
  3. ousəs
IPA (American)
/ˈpɑndɚəs/
IPA (British)
/pɒndəɹəs/
Respelling
PAHN-duh-uhs
Syllables
3 — PON-der-ous
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PON-der-ous. “pon” 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

/ˈpɑndɚəs/

British

/pɒndəɹəs/

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

Meaning

What “ponderous” means

  1. adjective

    slow and laborious because of weight

    “the heavy tread of tired troops”

  2. adjective

    having great mass and weight and unwieldiness

    “a ponderous stone”

  3. adjective

    labored and dull

    “a ponderous speech”

Say it in a sentence

“The ponderous old wardrobe took four of us to move.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɑahnnddɚschwa×2ss

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

Questions

“ponderous”, answered

How do you pronounce “ponderous”?

“ponderous” is pronounced /ˈpɑndɚəs/ (PAHN-duh-uhs) in American English and /pɒndəɹəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pon”. Build it as PON-der-ous, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “ponderous” have?

3: pon · der · ous. The beat lands on the first, “pon”.

Is “ponderous” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpɑndɚəs/ (PAHN-duh-uhs); British English says /pɒndəɹəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “ponderous” mean?

As an adjective: slow and laborious because of weight For example: “the heavy tread of tired troops” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “ponderous”?

Stress the first syllable: PON-der-ous. “pon” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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