Slova
Nuclear is pronounced NOO-klee-er in American English and NYOO-klee-uh in British English. It has three syllables with the stress on the first. Think of it as new plus clear. Avoid NOO-kyuh-ler, the form often written as nucular.
nuclear
adjective · using the energy made by splitting atoms; to do with the nucleus of an atom or a cell
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈnuː.kli.ɚ/
NOOstressed
klee
er
UK British English/ˈnjuː.kli.ə/
NYOOstressed
klee
uh
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes nuclear, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. The middle is klee, the start of clear. It is not kyuh: say NOO-klee-er, not NOO-kyuh-ler.
Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.
Say this word
nuclear
Compare
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say NOO-klee-er.
NotNOO-kyuh-ler
The nucular form, copied from words like particular. The l comes straight after the k: NOO-klee-er.
Notnoo-KLEE-er
Stressing the second syllable. Put the beat on NOO (US) or NYOO (UK).
NotNUK-lee-er
Saying nu as in nut. The first syllable sounds like new: NOO in the US, NYOO in the UK.
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The country has two nuclear power stations.
They signed a treaty to reduce nuclear weapons.
Nuclear energy produces very little carbon dioxide.
Nuclear comes from nucleus, the Latin word for a kernel, from nux, a nut. The spelling shows the sounds in order: nu, then cle, then ar. So the l comes straight after the k: NOO-klee-er.
English has many common words ending in -cular, such as particular, molecular, spectacular and circular. All of them have a kyuh sound before the l. Speakers copy that pattern and say NOO-kyuh-ler, often written nucular.
Some American presidents were known for saying nucular, and you will hear it on the news. Cambridge and Oxford list only NOO-klee-er (US) and NYOO-klee-uh (UK). Say new, then clear.
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
In Slova you say new words out loud in every lesson, at your level, in lessons built around what you love.