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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “utilise”

“utilise” is pronounced /ˈjutəˌlaɪz/ (YOO-tuh-lyze) in American English and /ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ju”.
The sound

Say “utilise” in 3 beats

Say it like this

utilise

/ˈjutəˌlaɪz/

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

3 beats
  1. jujustress
  2. tətə
  3. laɪzlaɪz
IPA (American)
/ˈjutəˌlaɪz/
IPA (British)
/ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/
Respelling
YOO-tuh-lyze
Syllables
3 — JU-tə-laɪz
Stress
Stress the first syllable: JU-tə-laɪz. “ju” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈjutəˌlaɪz/

British

/ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/

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

Watch out

Where “utilise” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    “yoo-TIL-yze”

    the stress is on YOO, the first syllable

Meaning

What “utilise” means

  1. verb

    put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose

    “use your head!”

Say it in a sentence

“The workshop shows how to utilise the tools you already own.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
jyulong oottəschwallaɪlong izz

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“utilise”, answered

How do you pronounce “utilise”?

“utilise” is pronounced /ˈjutəˌlaɪz/ (YOO-tuh-lyze) in American English and /ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “ju”. Build it as JU-tə-laɪz, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “utilise” have?

3: ju · tə · laɪz. The beat lands on the first, “ju”.

Is “utilise” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈjutəˌlaɪz/ (YOO-tuh-lyze); British English says /ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “utilise” mean?

As a verb: put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose For example: “use your head!”

Where is the stress in “utilise”?

Stress the first syllable: JU-tə-laɪz. “ju” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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