Pronunciation

How to pronounce “resilient

“resilient” is pronounced /ɹɪˈzɪljənt/ (rih-ZIL-yuhnt) in American English and /ɹɪˈzɪlɪənt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “il”.
The sound

Say “resilient” in 3 beats

Say it like this

resilient

/ɹɪˈzɪljənt/

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

3 beats
  1. resɹɪ
  2. ilstress
  3. ientljənt
IPA (American)
/ɹɪˈzɪljənt/
IPA (British)
/ɹɪˈzɪlɪənt/
Respelling
rih-ZIL-yuhnt
Syllables
3 — res-IL-ient
Stress
Stress the second syllable: res-IL-ient. “il” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ɹɪˈzɪljənt/

British

/ɹɪˈzɪlɪənt/

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

Watch out

Where “resilient” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    ree-SIL-ee-ent

    the s is a z sound and the -ient collapses to yuhnt

Meaning

What “resilient” means

  1. adjective

    recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like

  2. adjective

    elastic; rebounds readily

    clean bouncy hair

Say it in a sentence

The old apple tree proved more resilient than anyone expected.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

8 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

resilient”, answered

How do you pronounce “resilient”?

“resilient” is pronounced /ɹɪˈzɪljənt/ (rih-ZIL-yuhnt) in American English and /ɹɪˈzɪlɪənt/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “il”. Build it as res-IL-ient, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “resilient” have?

3: res · il · ient. The beat lands on the second, “il”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (ree-SIL-ee-ent), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.

Is “resilient” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ɹɪˈzɪljənt/ (rih-ZIL-yuhnt); British English says /ɹɪˈzɪlɪənt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “resilient” mean?

As an adjective: recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like For example: “The old apple tree proved more resilient than anyone expected.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “resilient”?

Stress the second syllable: res-IL-ient. “il” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “resilient” 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.