pronounce
to enunciate or articulate (sounds, words, sentences, etc.).
to utter or sound in a particular manner in speaking: He pronounces his words indistinctly.
to utter or articulate in the accepted or correct manner: I can't pronounce this word.
to declare (a person or thing) to be as specified: She pronounced it the best salmon she had ever tasted.
to utter or deliver formally or solemnly: to pronounce sentence.
to announce authoritatively or officially: The judge pronounced the defendant guilty.
to indicate the pronunciation of (words) by providing a phonetic transcription: This dictionary pronounces most of the words entered.
to pronounce words, phrases, etc.
to make a statement or assertion, especially an authoritative statement (often followed by on): He was required to pronounce on the findings of his research.
to give an opinion or decision (usually followed by on): to pronounce on an important matter.
to indicate the pronunciation of words: a spelling book that pronounces.
Origin of pronounce
1Other words from pronounce
- pro·nounce·a·ble, adjective
- pro·nounce·a·ble·ness, noun
- pro·nounc·er, noun
- pre·pro·nounce, verb (used with object), pre·pro·nounced, pre·pro·nounc·ing.
- un·pro·nounce·a·ble, adjective
- un·pro·nounc·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with pronounce
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pronounce in a sentence
Police said Walls was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Woman fatally shot in Southeast Washington, D.C. police say | Peter Hermann | November 12, 2020 | Washington PostOfficers went there after gunfire was reported, and Banks was pronounced dead at the scene.
Victim of fatal shooting in Prince George’s County is identified | Martin Weil, Katie Mettler | November 10, 2020 | Washington PostIt’s especially pronounced when your subject is very close to the camera.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max might be worth it—for the camera alone | Stan Horaczek | November 10, 2020 | Popular-ScienceOne officer and the suspect were taken to the shock trauma center, where the suspect was pronounced dead, police said.
Baltimore police fatally shot person who fired at officers, commissioner says | Emily Davies | November 9, 2020 | Washington PostThe author elects not to tap treatments of the founding era by a rising generation of professional historians who give pronounced attention to political energies bubbling up from below.
Four presidents who put Virginia’s stamp on early America | Andrew Burstein | October 30, 2020 | Washington Post
And by pronouncing other cultures and political systems “evil,” there was the assurance that America was good.
Williams showed off her best dance moves after pronouncing, without a hint of irony, “‘Flawless’ by Beyoncé!”
Game of Thrones: Sex, Swords, and Dragons at a Fans’ Night Out | Scott Bixby | March 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTLate-night comedy hosts will have a great time pronouncing, “Finally, a Clinton who inhales!”
Tina Brown: I Know Who Hillary’s Running Mate Should Be | Tina Brown | July 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTI loved how he could make the word “public” rhyme with “subject” just by pronouncing it differently.
Big Daddy Kane: The Hip-Hop MC on Las Supper, Madonna, Jay-Z, and What’s Next | Curtis Stephen | April 16, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTPronouncing illegality, governments will often undertake demolitions of slum houses.
He conducts this ceremony with the greatest solemnity, occasionally pronouncing these incantatory words, "Plate or shell, sah?"
Physiology of The Opera | John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")We assimilate anything white so quickly it is a wonder an immigrant remembers the native way of pronouncing his own name.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonThe manner of pronouncing vowels and consonants became the most profound of mysteries, and often the most terrible.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)It was by pronouncing letters according to the magical method, that the moon was made to descend to the earth.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)She felt a patriotic thrill on hearing the first mellow English voice pronouncing the first kindly English sentence.
The Daughters of Danaus | Mona Caird
British Dictionary definitions for pronounce
/ (prəˈnaʊns) /
to utter or articulate (a sound or sequence of sounds)
(tr) to utter or articulate (sounds or words) in the correct way
(tr; may take a clause as object) to proclaim officially and solemnly: I now pronounce you man and wife
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to declare as one's judgment: to pronounce the death sentence upon someone
(tr) to make a phonetic transcription of (sounds or words)
Origin of pronounce
1Derived forms of pronounce
- pronounceable, adjective
- pronouncer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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