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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “prodigal”

“prodigal” is pronounced /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/ (PRAH-di-guhl) in American English and /pɹɒdɪɡəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “prod”.
The sound

Say “prodigal” in 3 beats

Say it like this

prodigal

/ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/

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

3 beats
  1. prodpɹɑstress
  2. igdɪ
  3. alɡəl
IPA (American)
/ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/
IPA (British)
/pɹɒdɪɡəl/
Respelling
PRAH-di-guhl
Syllables
3 — PROD-ig-al
Stress
Stress the first syllable: PROD-ig-al. “prod” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun, adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/

British

/pɹɒdɪɡəl/

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

Meaning

What “prodigal” means

  1. noun

    a recklessly extravagant consumer

  2. adjective

    recklessly wasteful

    “prodigal in their expenditures”

Say it in a sentence

“The family prodigal returned with no money and endless stories.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 sounds, in the order you say them
ppɹrɑahddɪshort iɡgəschwall

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

Questions

“prodigal”, answered

How do you pronounce “prodigal”?

“prodigal” is pronounced /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/ (PRAH-di-guhl) in American English and /pɹɒdɪɡəl/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “prod”. Build it as PROD-ig-al, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “prodigal” have?

3: prod · ig · al. The beat lands on the first, “prod”.

Is “prodigal” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈpɹɑdɪɡəl/ (PRAH-di-guhl); British English says /pɹɒdɪɡəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “prodigal” mean?

As a noun: a recklessly extravagant consumer For example: “The family prodigal returned with no money and endless stories.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “prodigal”?

Stress the first syllable: PROD-ig-al. “prod” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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