Pronunciation

How to pronounce “sagacious

“sagacious” is pronounced /səˈɡeɪʃəs/ (suh-GAY-shuhs) — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”.
The sound

Say “sagacious” in 3 beats

Say it like this

sagacious

/səˈɡeɪʃəs/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. sag
  2. acɡeɪstress
  3. iousʃəs
IPA (American)
/səˈɡeɪʃəs/
IPA (British)
/səˈɡeɪʃəs/
Respelling
suh-GAY-shuhs
Syllables
3 — sag-AC-ious
Stress
Stress the second syllable: sag-AC-ious. “ac” 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
Watch out

Where “sagacious” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    sag-AY-see-us

    the ci is a single sh sound: suh-GAY-shuhs

Meaning

What “sagacious” means

  1. adjective

    acutely insightful and wise

    much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument

  2. adjective

    skillful in statecraft or management

    an astute and sagacious statesman

Say it in a sentence

A sagacious old editor spotted the error in one reading.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 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

sagacious”, answered

How do you pronounce “sagacious”?

“sagacious” is pronounced /səˈɡeɪʃəs/ (suh-GAY-shuhs) — 3 syllables, stressed on “ac”. Build it as sag-AC-ious, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “sagacious” have?

3: sag · ac · ious. The beat lands on the second, “ac”. Read letter by letter it looks like 4 (sag-AY-see-us), and that careful version is not wrong — but ordinary speech runs it to 3.

What does “sagacious” mean?

As an adjective: acutely insightful and wise For example: “much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “sagacious”?

Stress the second syllable: sag-AC-ious. “ac” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “sagacious” and see every sound

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