murderer
noun · a person who kills someone on purpose
- MURmɝː (stressed)
- derdɚ
- erɚ
- MURmɜː (stressed)
- duhdər
- ruhə
- US /ˈmɝː.dɚ.ɚ/MUR-der-er Recorded voice
- UK /ˈmɜː.dər.ə/MUR-duh-ruh Your device’s voice
How to pronounce murderer
Murderer is pronounced MUR-der-er in American English and MUR-duh-ruh in British English. It has three syllables with the stress on the first. In American English all three syllables have an r sound, which is why the word is hard to say clearly.
- 3 syllables
- Stress on MUR
- 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.
Murderer, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈmɝː.dɚ.ɚ/
MURstressed
- /m/as in man
- /ɝː/as in bird (US)
der
- /d/as in did
- /ɚ/as in mother (US)
er
- /ɚ/as in mother (US)
UK British English/ˈmɜː.dər.ə/
MURstressed
- /m/as in man
- /ɜː/as in bird (UK)
duh
- /d/as in did
- /ə/as in about
- /r/as in red
ruh
- /ə/as in about
Say murderer yourself
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Tip. Do not stop at murder. Add a third, short syllable: er in the US, uh in the UK.
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Common murderer pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say MUR-der-er.
Not
MUR-derDropping the last syllable, so it sounds like murder. Add a short er at the end: MUR-der-er.
Not
MOOR-deh-rerReading ur as oor and the e as a clear eh. Use the vowel of fur and keep the middle weak.
Not
mur-DER-erStressing the second syllable. Put the weight on MUR, as in murder.
Murderer 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.
The murderer was caught two days later.
In the last chapter we find out who the murderer is.
Police are still searching for the murderer.
Why is murderer so hard to say?
Murderer is murder plus the -er ending that means a person who does something, as in teacher or singer. In American English that gives three r sounds in a row, with only weak vowels between them: MUR-der-er. The tongue stays pulled back for the whole word.
British English drops an r that comes before a consonant or at the end of a word, so the word is easier there: MUR-duh-ruh. Only one r is fully said, the one before the last vowel.
Murder itself has a long history. Old English had morþor, with a th sound, and English used both murther and murder for centuries before murder won. Say murder first, then add a short er.
Words that sound like murderer
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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