Pronunciation

How to pronounce “unique

“unique” is pronounced /juˈnik/ (yoo-NEEK) in American English and /juːniːk/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “nik”.
The sound

Say “unique” in 2 beats

Say it like this

unique

/juˈnik/

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

2 beats
  1. juju
  2. niknikstress
IPA (American)
/juˈnik/
IPA (British)
/juːniːk/
Respelling
yoo-NEEK
Syllables
2 — ju-NIK
Stress
Stress the second syllable: ju-NIK. “nik” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/juˈnik/

British

/juːniːk/

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

Meaning

What “unique” means

  1. adjective

    radically distinctive and without equal

    he is alone in the field of microbiology

  2. adjective

    (followed by `to') applying exclusively to a given category or condition or locality

    a species unique to Australia

  3. adjective

    the single one of its kind

    a singular example

Say it in a sentence

That chair is unique, made by her grandfather by hand.
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

unique”, answered

How do you pronounce “unique”?

“unique” is pronounced /juˈnik/ (yoo-NEEK) in American English and /juːniːk/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “nik”. Build it as ju-NIK, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “unique” have?

2: ju · nik. The beat lands on the second, “nik”.

Is “unique” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /juˈnik/ (yoo-NEEK); British English says /juːniːk/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “unique” mean?

As an adjective: radically distinctive and without equal For example: “he is alone in the field of microbiology” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “unique”?

Stress the second syllable: ju-NIK. “nik” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “unique” 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.