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How to pronounce epitome

Epitome is pronounced ih-PIT-uh-mee. It has four syllables with the stress on the second, PIT, and the final e is said as ee. American and British English say it the same way, though in American English the t is a quick, soft tap.

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  • 4 syllables
  • Stress on PIT
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

epitome

Four syllables, stress on the second

noun · a perfect example of a quality or type

  1. ihɪ
  2. PITpɪt̬ (stressed)
  3. uhə
  4. meemi
  • US /ɪˈpɪt̬.ə.mi/ih-PIT-uh-mee Recorded voice
  • UK /ɪˈpɪt.ə.mi/ih-PIT-uh-mee Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Epitome, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

US American English/ɪˈpɪt̬.ə.mi/

  1. ih

    • /ɪ/as in sit

  2. PITstressed

    • /p/as in pen
    • /ɪ/as in sit
    • /t̬/as in water (US)

  3. uh

    • /ə/as in about

  4. mee

    • /m/as in man
    • /i/as in happy

UK British English/ɪˈpɪt.ə.mi/

  1. ih

    • /ɪ/as in sit

  2. PITstressed

    • /p/as in pen
    • /ɪ/as in sit
    • /t/as in tea

  3. uh

    • /ə/as in about

  4. mee

    • /m/as in man
    • /i/as in happy

Say epitome yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes epitome, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. It ends in mee, like the word me. There is no tome at the end.

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epitome

    Common epitome pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say ih-PIT-uh-mee.

    • NotEP-ih-tohm

      Reading the spelling as epi plus tome. The word has four syllables and ends in mee.

    • Notep-ih-TOH-mee

      Stressing the third syllable. The beat is on PIT, the second.

    • NotEP-ih-tuh-mee

      Stressing the first syllable. Start with a weak ih and land on PIT.

    Epitome 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.

    • This hotel is the epitome of luxury.

    • My grandmother was the epitome of kindness.

    • To me, that song is the epitome of summer.

    Why does epitome end in an ee sound?

    Epitome is Greek. It comes from epitomē, a short summary, from a verb meaning to cut short. In Greek the final e was a full vowel, and English keeps it as ee. So the word has four syllables and ends like me.

    Many Greek words with this ending put the stress on the third syllable from the end. Say catastrophe, apostrophe and hyperbole and you can hear it: kuh-TAS-truh-fee, uh-POS-truh-fee, hy-PUR-buh-lee. Epitome has the same shape: ih-PIT-uh-mee.

    Reading it as epi plus tome, EP-ih-tohm, is a spelling pronunciation that dictionaries do not list. Practise the end first, uh-mee, then add ih-PIT in front.

    Words that sound like epitome

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

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