sayitsayit
Pronunciation

How to pronounce “viscous”

“viscous” is pronounced /ˈvɪskəs/ (VI-skuhs) in American English and /vɪskəs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “vis”.
The sound

Say “viscous” in 2 beats

Say it like this

viscous

/ˈvɪskəs/

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

2 beats
  1. visvɪstress
  2. cousskəs
IPA (American)
/ˈvɪskəs/
IPA (British)
/vɪskəs/
Respelling
VI-skuhs
Syllables
2 — VIS-cous
Stress
Stress the first syllable: VIS-cous. “vis” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
adjective
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈvɪskəs/

British

/vɪskəs/

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

Meaning

What “viscous” means

  1. adjective

    having a relatively high resistance to flow

  2. adjective

    having the sticky properties of an adhesive

Say it in a sentence

“The syrup was viscous and refused to leave the spoon.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them
vvɪshort iss×2kkəschwa

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

Questions

“viscous”, answered

How do you pronounce “viscous”?

“viscous” is pronounced /ˈvɪskəs/ (VI-skuhs) in American English and /vɪskəs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “vis”. Build it as VIS-cous, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “viscous” have?

2: vis · cous. The beat lands on the first, “vis”.

Is “viscous” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈvɪskəs/ (VI-skuhs); British English says /vɪskəs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “viscous” mean?

As an adjective: having a relatively high resistance to flow For example: “The syrup was viscous and refused to leave the spoon.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “viscous”?

Stress the first syllable: VIS-cous. “vis” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “viscous” 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.

Practise this word freeMore words with V