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How to pronounce synecdoche

Synecdoche is pronounced sih-NEK-duh-kee. It has four syllables with the stress on the second, NEK. The ch is a k sound and the final e is said as ee, so the word ends in kee. American and British English say it the same way.

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

synecdoche

Four syllables, stress on the second

noun · a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole, or the whole for a part, as in wheels for a car

  1. sihsɪ
  2. NEKnek (stressed)
  3. duhdə
  4. keeki
  • US /sɪˈnek.də.ki/sih-NEK-duh-kee Recorded voice
  • UK /sɪˈnek.də.ki/sih-NEK-duh-kee Your device’s voice

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

Synecdoche, sound by sound

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

USUK American and British English/sɪˈnek.də.ki/

  1. sih

    • /s/as in see
    • /ɪ/as in sit
  2. NEKstressed

    • /n/as in now
    • /e/as in bed
    • /k/as in cat
  3. duh

    • /d/as in did
    • /ə/as in about
  4. kee

    • /k/as in cat
    • /i/as in happy

Say synecdoche yourself

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

Tip. It ends in kee: the ch is a k sound and the final e is said as ee, as in epitome.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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synecdoche

    Common synecdoche pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say sih-NEK-duh-kee.

    • NotSIN-ek-dohsh

      Reading the end as French and stressing the first syllable. Stress NEK and end in kee.

    • Notsih-NEK-dohch

      Saying ch as in church and making the e silent. Ch is k here, and e is ee: duh-kee.

    • Notsin-ek-DOH-kee

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

    Synecdoche 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.

    • Calling a car your wheels is a synecdoche.

    • Using hands to mean workers is a synecdoche.

    • Our teacher explained the difference between metaphor and synecdoche.

    Why does synecdoche end in a kee sound?

    Synecdoche is Greek. Synekdochē meant understanding one thing together with another, from syn, together, and a verb meaning to receive. In English it names the figure of speech where a part stands for the whole: hands for workers, or wheels for a car.

    Two Greek spelling habits shape the sound. The ch stands for a k sound, as in chorus, chaos and school. And the final e is a full syllable, ee, as in epitome, hyperbole and catastrophe.

    So the word ends in kee, not in a French-style dosh. Put the stress on NEK, the second syllable, and keep the rest light: sih-NEK-duh-kee.

    Words that sound like synecdoche

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

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