How to pronounce “thoroughly”
Say “thoroughly” in 3 beats
thoroughly
/ˈθɝoʊli/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈθʌɹəli/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- thorθɝstress
- oughoʊ
- lyli
- IPA (American)
- /ˈθɝoʊli/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈθʌɹəli/
- Respelling
- THUR-oh-lee (UK THUH-ruh-lee)
- Syllables
- 3 — THOR-ough-ly
- Stress
- Stress the first syllable: THOR-ough-ly. “thor” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- adverb
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ˈθɝoʊli/
The middle vowel is the one in go.
/ˈθʌɹəli/
The middle vowel reduces to a schwa.
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “thoroughly” goes wrong
- Often heard
“THROO-lee”
three syllables: do not compress thorough into through
What “thoroughly” means
- adverb
in an exhaustive manner
“we searched the files thoroughly”
- adverb
completely and absolutely (`good' is sometimes used informally for `thoroughly')
“he was soundly defeated”
Say it in a sentence
“Rinse the lentils thoroughly before you cook them.”The sounds inside this word
Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.
“thoroughly”, answered
How do you pronounce “thoroughly”?
“thoroughly” is pronounced /ˈθɝoʊli/ (THUR-oh-lee (UK THUH-ruh-lee)) in American English and /ˈθʌɹəli/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “thor”. Build it as THOR-ough-ly, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “thoroughly” have?
3: thor · ough · ly. The beat lands on the first, “thor”.
Is “thoroughly” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ˈθɝoʊli/ (THUR-oh-lee (UK THUH-ruh-lee)); British English says /ˈθʌɹəli/. The middle vowel reduces to a schwa. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “thoroughly” mean?
As an adverb: in an exhaustive manner For example: “we searched the files thoroughly” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “thoroughly”?
Stress the first syllable: THOR-ough-ly. “thor” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “thoroughly” 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.