How to pronounce “prosaic”
Say “prosaic” in 3 beats
prosaic
/pɹoʊˈzeɪɪk/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pɹəseɪɪk/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- pɹoʊpɹoʊ
- zeɪzeɪstress
- ɪkɪk
- IPA (American)
- /pɹoʊˈzeɪɪk/
- IPA (British)
- /pɹəseɪɪk/
- Respelling
- proh-ZAY-ik
- Syllables
- 3 — pɹoʊ-ZEꞮ-ɪk
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: pɹoʊ-ZEꞮ-ɪk. “zeɪ” 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
American and British are not the same here
/pɹoʊˈzeɪɪk/
/pɹəseɪɪk/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “prosaic” means
- adjective
not fanciful or imaginative
“local guides describe the history of various places in matter-of-fact tones”
- adjective
lacking wit or imagination
“a pedestrian movie plot”
- adjective
not challenging; dull and lacking excitement
“an unglamorous job greasing engines”
Say it in a sentence
“The reason turned out to be entirely prosaic: a flat battery.”“prosaic”, answered
How do you pronounce “prosaic”?
“prosaic” is pronounced /pɹoʊˈzeɪɪk/ (proh-ZAY-ik) in American English and /pɹəseɪɪk/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “zeɪ”. Build it as pɹoʊ-ZEꞮ-ɪk, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “prosaic” have?
3: pɹoʊ · zeɪ · ɪk. The beat lands on the second, “zeɪ”.
Is “prosaic” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /pɹoʊˈzeɪɪk/ (proh-ZAY-ik); British English says /pɹəseɪɪk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “prosaic” mean?
As an adjective: not fanciful or imaginative For example: “local guides describe the history of various places in matter-of-fact tones” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “prosaic”?
Stress the second syllable: pɹoʊ-ZEꞮ-ɪk. “zeɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “prosaic” 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.