enunciate
Americanverb (used with object)
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enunciates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enunciated,
past participle, past
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enunciating
present participle
-
to utter or pronounce (words, sentences, etc.), especially in an articulate or a particular manner.
He enunciates his words distinctly.
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to state or declare definitely, as a theory.
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to announce or proclaim.
to enunciate one's intentions.
verb (used without object)
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enunciates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enunciated,
past participle, past
-
enunciating
present participle
verb
-
to articulate or pronounce (words), esp clearly and distinctly
-
(tr) to state precisely or formally
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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enunciabilitynoun
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enunciationnoun
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enunciatornoun
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reenunciateverb
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enunciableadjective
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enunciativeadjective
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enunciatoryadjective
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nonenunciativeadjective
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nonenunciatoryadjective
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unenunciableadjective
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unenunciatedadjective
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unenunciativeadjective
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enunciativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enunciatesimple
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enunciatessimple
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have enunciatedperfect
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has enunciatedperfect
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am enunciatingprogressive
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are enunciatingprogressive
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is enunciatingprogressive
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have been enunciatingperfect progressive
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has been enunciatingperfect progressive
Past
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enunciatedsimple
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had enunciatedperfect
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was enunciatingprogressive
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were enunciatingprogressive
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had been enunciatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enunciate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēnūntiātus (past participle of ēnūntiāre ), equivalent to ē- “from, out of” ( see e- 1) + nūnti(us) “messenger, message” + -ātus suffix ( see -ate 1)
Explanation
Can't get your point across? Maybe you just need to speak more clearly or articulate your thoughts better — in short, enunciate. Good enunciation is similar to pronunciation, but describes more specifically how clearly someone expresses themselves. The word enunciate is related to the Latin words for both "announce" and "messenger." So most likely those ancient Romans who created the word wanted a messenger who could announce things without mumbling, grumbling, and rambling.
Vocabulary lists containing enunciate
Unit 1: Telling Details
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Tongues Untied: The Lingo of Linguistics
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Did you find yourself making more of an effort to enunciate?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Compassionate means you care about people and the policies you enunciate help people .
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
The coordinator, too, wants Howell to “over-communicate” and enunciate clearly so that teammates don’t miss a word, Howell says.
From Washington Times ● May 31, 2023
He doesn't think screen acting has changed much over the decades but he does have a grumble about "mumbling" - actors who fail to enunciate their lines.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2023
In the 1660s the Royal Society looked back to Bacon as the first to enunciate the principles of the new science.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Chandrasekhar admitted he was no Jacques Bailly, the University of Vermont classics professor who has been the competition’s official pronouncer since 2003 and enunciates each word with a vaguely Midwestern intonation.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 2, 2022
“It is a famine of beauty,” Mr. Talley enunciates with an air of great tragedy.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2022
On my favorite part of “Exactly How I Feel,” featuring Gucci Mane, in which Lizzo idiosyncratically enunciates the title phrase while a high whistle rises in the background, unless that’s just a boiling kettle.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2019
He enunciates like a dressed-up Dylan on "Mother of Pearl," and cranks up the exaggeration on the Brechtian, funk-smeared proto-post-punk of "She Sells."
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2018
"Love," Yo enunciates, letting the full force of the word loose in her mouth.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
“You must rewire your brain. I … urge … you,” she enunciated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Jamie Lee Curtis,” producer DeVon Franklin enunciated loudly into the mic.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
They deliver their lines in an emotionless, crystal-clear manner that verges on the unrehearsed; not entirely affectless, but rather with the slightly enunciated flatness of an audio tutorial.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2023
There is a rhetorical technique called a Gish gallop in which a debater simply tosses out as many arguments — true, half true, untrue — as can be enunciated within the allotted time.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 28, 2022
His line moved the slowest because he pressed hard on each forehead to make a perfect cross with his ash-covered thumb and slowly, meaningfully enunciated every word of “dust and unto dust you shall return.”
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
She would sit with me for hours on the couch, pointing to words in books and magazines, and patiently enunciating them, bantering with me in an inexhaustible volley of puns, spoonerisms and goofy double entendres.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 12, 2023
An LDS church spokesman later said the organization was not endorsing specific legislation but rather Mr. Bednar was enunciating “guiding principles” on the matter.
From Washington Times ● May 26, 2022
Last school year, Ms. Szwarcewicz experimented with teaching English in a mask with a clear plastic front so students could see the shapes her lips and tongue made while enunciating.
From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
I’ll ask a question, and the genial Branagh will answer with a polite earnestness, enunciating every word with peerless precision.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2022
In many ways, these were the glory days for the accused, for our own people were on the stand fearlessly enunciating ANC policy.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
