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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “variability”

“variability” is pronounced /vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/ (ve-ree-uh-BI-li-tee) in American English and /veəɹɪəbɪlɪti/ in British English — 6 syllables, stressed on “bɪ”.
The sound

Say “variability” in 6 beats

Say it like this

variability

/vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/

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

6 beats
  1. vɛvɛ
  2. ɹiɹi
  3. əə
  4. bɪbɪstress
  5. lɪlɪ
  6. titi
IPA (American)
/vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/
IPA (British)
/veəɹɪəbɪlɪti/
Respelling
ve-ree-uh-BI-li-tee
Syllables
6 — vɛ-ɹi-ə-BꞮ-lɪ-ti
Stress
Stress the fourth syllable: vɛ-ɹi-ə-BꞮ-lɪ-ti. “bɪ” 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
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/

British

/veəɹɪəbɪlɪti/

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

Meaning

What “variability” means

  1. noun

    the quality of being subject to variation

  2. noun

    the quality of being uneven and lacking uniformity

Say it in a sentence

“The variability of the weather makes planning almost pointless.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

9 sounds, in the order you say them
vvɛshort eɹrɪəearbbɪshort i×2llttilong e

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

Questions

“variability”, answered

How do you pronounce “variability”?

“variability” is pronounced /vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/ (ve-ree-uh-BI-li-tee) in American English and /veəɹɪəbɪlɪti/ in British English — 6 syllables, stressed on “bɪ”. Build it as vɛ-ɹi-ə-BꞮ-lɪ-ti, then run the fourth syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “variability” have?

6: vɛ · ɹi · ə · bɪ · lɪ · ti. The beat lands on the fourth, “bɪ”.

Is “variability” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /vɛɹiəˈbɪlɪti/ (ve-ree-uh-BI-li-tee); British English says /veəɹɪəbɪlɪti/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “variability” mean?

As a noun: the quality of being subject to variation For example: “The variability of the weather makes planning almost pointless.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “variability”?

Stress the fourth syllable: vɛ-ɹi-ə-BꞮ-lɪ-ti. “bɪ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

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