How to pronounce “specificity”
Say “specificity” in 5 beats
specificity
/ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsəti/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- specspɛ
- ifsɪ
- icfɪstress
- itsə
- yti
- IPA (American)
- /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsəti/
- IPA (British)
- /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/
- Respelling
- spess-ih-FISS-uh-tee
- Syllables
- 5 — spec-if-IC-it-y
- Stress
- Stress the third syllable: spec-if-IC-it-y. “ic” 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
American and British are not the same here
/ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsəti/
/ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “specificity” goes wrong
- Often heard
“spuh-SIF-ik-it-ee”
the stress moves to FISS: spess-ih-FISS-uh-tee
What “specificity” means
- noun
the quality of being specific rather than general
“add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion”
- noun
the quality of being specific to a particular organism
“host specificity of a parasite”
Say it in a sentence
“The test has high specificity but misses some early cases.”“specificity”, answered
How do you pronounce “specificity”?
“specificity” is pronounced /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsəti/ (spess-ih-FISS-uh-tee) in American English and /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/ in British English — 5 syllables, stressed on “ic”. Build it as spec-if-IC-it-y, then run the third syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “specificity” have?
5: spec · if · ic · it · y. The beat lands on the third, “ic”.
Is “specificity” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsəti/ (spess-ih-FISS-uh-tee); British English says /ˌspɛsɪˈfɪsɪti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “specificity” mean?
As a noun: the quality of being specific rather than general For example: “add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “specificity”?
Stress the third syllable: spec-if-IC-it-y. “ic” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “specificity” 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.