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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “reluctance”

“reluctance” is pronounced /ɹɪˈlʌktəns/ (ri-LUK-tuhns) in American English and /ɹɪlʌktəns/ in British English, and /ɹiˈlʌktəns/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “lʌk”.
The sound

Say “reluctance” in 3 beats

Say it like this

reluctance

/ɹɪˈlʌktəns/

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

3 beats
  1. ɹɪɹɪ
  2. lʌklʌkstress
  3. tənstəns
IPA (American)
/ɹɪˈlʌktəns/
IPA (British)
/ɹɪlʌktəns/
Also accepted
/ɹiˈlʌktəns/
Respelling
ri-LUK-tuhns
Syllables
3 — ɹɪ-LɅK-təns
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ɹɪ-LɅK-təns. “lʌk” 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

/ɹɪˈlʌktəns/

British

/ɹɪlʌktəns/

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

Meaning

What “reluctance” means

  1. noun

    (physics) opposition to magnetic flux (analogous to electric resistance)

  2. noun

    a certain degree of unwillingness

    “a reluctance to commit himself”

Say it in a sentence

“Reluctance in the core wastes a surprising amount of power.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
ɹrɪshort illʌshort ukkttəschwannss

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

Questions

“reluctance”, answered

How do you pronounce “reluctance”?

“reluctance” is pronounced /ɹɪˈlʌktəns/ (ri-LUK-tuhns) in American English and /ɹɪlʌktəns/ in British English, and /ɹiˈlʌktəns/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “lʌk”. Build it as ɹɪ-LɅK-təns, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “reluctance” have?

3: ɹɪ · lʌk · təns. The beat lands on the second, “lʌk”.

Is “reluctance” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɹɪˈlʌktəns/ (ri-LUK-tuhns); British English says /ɹɪlʌktəns/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “reluctance” mean?

As a noun: (physics) opposition to magnetic flux (analogous to electric resistance) For example: “Reluctance in the core wastes a surprising amount of power.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “reluctance”?

Stress the second syllable: ɹɪ-LɅK-təns. “lʌk” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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