boutique
noun · a small shop that sells fashionable clothes or special things
- boobuː
- TEEKtiːk (stressed)
- boobuː
- TEEKtiːk (stressed)
- US /buːˈtiːk/boo-TEEK Recorded voice
- UK /buːˈtiːk/boo-TEEK Your device’s voice
How to pronounce boutique
Boutique is pronounced boo-TEEK, with two syllables and the stress on the second. The que at the end is just k, and the word rhymes with unique. American and British English agree.
- 2 syllables
- Stress on TEEK
- US and UK IPA
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Boutique, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
USUK American and British English/buːˈtiːk/
boo
- /b/as in bad
- /uː/as in too
TEEKstressed
- /t/as in tea
- /iː/as in see
- /k/as in cat
Say boutique yourself
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Tip. Stress TEEK: boo-TEEK. It rhymes with unique. The final que is silent.
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Common boutique pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say boo-TEEK.
Not
BOO-tikStressing the first syllable and making the vowel short. The stress is on TEEK, with a long ee.
Not
bow-TEEKReading ou as in out. In this French word it is oo.
Not
boo-TEE-kwuhSaying the ue as an extra sound. The word ends on k.
Boutique in a sentence
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
She bought the dress in a small boutique.
There is a new boutique next to the cafe.
The hotel has its own boutique.
How do you say boutique?
Boutique is a French word, and French words in English often keep the stress at the end. Say boo, then TEEK, with the longer, louder syllable second.
The que ending is a French spelling for the k sound. You see it in unique, antique, technique and critique, and all of them end in EEK. English never says a w or a u sound after the k.
The word means shop in French. It goes back to the Greek apotheke, a storehouse, and the same Greek word gave English the more distant relatives apothecary and the Spanish word bodega.
Words that sound like boutique
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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