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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “powerful”

“powerful” is pronounced /ˈpaʊɚfəl/ (POW-uh-fuhl) in American English and /paʊəfəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pow”.
The sound

Say “powerful” in 3 beats

Say it like this

powerful

/ˈpaʊɚfəl/

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

3 beats
  1. powpaʊstress
  2. erɚ
  3. fulfəl
IPA (American)
/ˈpaʊɚfəl/
IPA (British)
/paʊəfəl/
Respelling
POW-uh-fuhl
Syllables
3 — POW-er-ful
Stress
Stress the first syllable: POW-er-ful. “pow” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective, adverb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈpaʊɚfəl/

British

/paʊəfəl/

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

Meaning

What “powerful” means

  1. adjective

    having great power or force or potency or effect

    “the most powerful government in western Europe”

  2. adjective

    strong enough to knock down or overwhelm

    “a knock-down blow”

  3. adjective

    having great influence

Say it in a sentence

“The storm brought powerful winds that knocked down trees.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
ppaʊowɚschwa×2ffll

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

Questions

“powerful”, answered

How do you pronounce “powerful”?

“powerful” is pronounced /ˈpaʊɚfəl/ (POW-uh-fuhl) in American English and /paʊəfəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “pow”. Build it as POW-er-ful, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “powerful” have?

3: pow · er · ful. The beat lands on the first, “pow”.

Is “powerful” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpaʊɚfəl/ (POW-uh-fuhl); British English says /paʊəfəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “powerful” mean?

As an adjective: having great power or force or potency or effect For example: “the most powerful government in western Europe” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “powerful”?

Stress the first syllable: POW-er-ful. “pow” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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