How to pronounce “pugnacious”
Say “pugnacious” in 3 beats
pugnacious
/pəɡˈnæʃɪs/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /pʌɡneɪʃəs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- pugpəɡ
- nacnæstress
- iousʃɪs
- IPA (American)
- /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/
- IPA (British)
- /pʌɡneɪʃəs/
- Respelling
- puhg-NA-shis
- Syllables
- 3 — pug-NAC-ious
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: pug-NAC-ious. “nac” 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
/pəɡˈnæʃɪs/
/pʌɡneɪʃəs/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “pugnacious” means
- adjective
tough and callous by virtue of experience
- adjective
ready and able to resort to force or violence; - Herman Melville
“pugnacious spirits...lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance”
Say it in a sentence
“The pugnacious little terrier guards the whole yard alone.”“pugnacious”, answered
How do you pronounce “pugnacious”?
“pugnacious” is pronounced /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/ (puhg-NA-shis) in American English and /pʌɡneɪʃəs/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “nac”. Build it as pug-NAC-ious, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “pugnacious” have?
3: pug · nac · ious. The beat lands on the second, “nac”.
Is “pugnacious” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/ (puhg-NA-shis); British English says /pʌɡneɪʃəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “pugnacious” mean?
As an adjective: tough and callous by virtue of experience For example: “The pugnacious little terrier guards the whole yard alone.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “pugnacious”?
Stress the second syllable: pug-NAC-ious. “nac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “pugnacious” 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.