Pronunciation

How to pronounce “surfeit

“surfeit” is pronounced /ˈsɝfət/ (SUR-fuht) in American English and /sɜːfɪt/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “sur”.
The sound

Say “surfeit” in 2 beats

Say it like this

surfeit

/ˈsɝfət/

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

2 beats
  1. surstress
  2. feitfət
IPA (American)
/ˈsɝfət/
IPA (British)
/sɜːfɪt/
Respelling
SUR-fuht
Syllables
2 — SUR-feit
Stress
Stress the first syllable: SUR-feit. “sur” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun, verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈsɝfət/

British

/sɜːfɪt/

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

Meaning

What “surfeit” means

  1. noun

    the state of being more than full

  2. noun

    the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall

  3. noun

    eating until excessively full

Say it in a sentence

After Christmas there is always a surfeit of biscuits.
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

surfeit”, answered

How do you pronounce “surfeit”?

“surfeit” is pronounced /ˈsɝfət/ (SUR-fuht) in American English and /sɜːfɪt/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “sur”. Build it as SUR-feit, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “surfeit” have?

2: sur · feit. The beat lands on the first, “sur”.

Is “surfeit” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈsɝfət/ (SUR-fuht); British English says /sɜːfɪt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “surfeit” mean?

As a noun: the state of being more than full For example: “After Christmas there is always a surfeit of biscuits.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “surfeit”?

Stress the first syllable: SUR-feit. “sur” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “surfeit” and see every sound

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