Pronunciation

How to pronounce “priority

“priority” is pronounced /pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/ (pry-AW-ruh-tee) in American English and /pɹaɪɒɹɪti/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ɔ”.
The sound

Say “priority” in 4 beats

Say it like this

priority

/pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/

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

4 beats
  1. pɹaɪpɹaɪ
  2. ɔɔstress
  3. ɹəɹə
  4. titi
IPA (American)
/pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/
IPA (British)
/pɹaɪɒɹɪti/
Respelling
pry-AW-ruh-tee
Syllables
4 — pɹaɪ-Ɔ-ɹə-ti
Stress
Stress the second syllable: pɹaɪ-Ɔ-ɹə-ti. “ɔ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/

British

/pɹaɪɒɹɪti/

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

Meaning

What “priority” means

  1. noun

    status established in order of importance or urgency

    ...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals

  2. noun

    preceding in time

Say it in a sentence

Fixing the roof is our first priority before the winter.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 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

priority”, answered

How do you pronounce “priority”?

“priority” is pronounced /pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/ (pry-AW-ruh-tee) in American English and /pɹaɪɒɹɪti/ in British English — 4 syllables, stressed on “ɔ”. Build it as pɹaɪ-Ɔ-ɹə-ti, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “priority” have?

4: pɹaɪ · ɔ · ɹə · ti. The beat lands on the second, “ɔ”.

Is “priority” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /pɹaɪˈɔɹəti/ (pry-AW-ruh-tee); British English says /pɹaɪɒɹɪti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “priority” mean?

As a noun: status established in order of importance or urgency For example: “...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “priority”?

Stress the second syllable: pɹaɪ-Ɔ-ɹə-ti. “ɔ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “priority” 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.