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Pop Culture dictionary results for tongue twister.

tongue twister

American  
[tuhng twis-ter] / ˈtʌŋ ˌtwɪs tər /

noun

  • tongue twisters
    plural
  1. a word or sequence of words difficult to pronounce, especially rapidly, because of alliteration or a slight variation of consonant sounds, as “She sells seashells by the seashore.”


tongue twister British  

noun

  1. a sentence or phrase that is difficult to articulate clearly and quickly, such as Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper

"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

Usage

What else does tongue twister mean? Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear—try saying that three times fast. This and other tongue twisters are words or phrases that are difficult to pronounce, often deliberately so and due to lots of similar sounds. How do you pronounce tongue twister?[tuhng twis-ter]

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of tongue twister

First recorded in 1895–1900


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:

It's like a tongue twister, almost, because you're working two sides of your body at once.

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2023

Yeah, someone paid him $150 for that tongue twister.

From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2023

A riff on the “Sally Sells Seashells,” tongue twister, the spot features Zendaya as Sally and was narrated by Andre 3000.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 11, 2022

She used that tongue twister of a moniker most every time she referred to him, occasionally stumbling over her own words.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2020

“The curly tips of unfurled fern fronds. It makes an excellent tongue twister, doesn’t it? Unfurled fern fronds! Unfurled fern fronds!”

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

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