diphthong

noun

diph·​thong ˈdif-ˌthȯŋ 

ˈdip-

1

linguistics : a gliding (see glide entry 1 sense 4) monosyllabic speech sound (such as the vowel combination at the end of toy) that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position of another

2

linguistics : digraph

3

: the ligature (see ligature sense 4) æ or œ

diphthongal

dif-ˈthȯŋ-(g)əl  dip- 

adjective

Examples of diphthong in a Sentence

The sounds of “ou” in “out” and of “oy” in “boy” are diphthongs.

Recent Examples on the Web

Think about it: Is there anything worse than losing your woman to a member of Oasis? Better Man Rated R for familiar vices and unfamiliar diphthongs. —Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2024

Monday night they were said through tears, out loud, in a cacophony of accents — the lyric diphthongs and soft Ss of Yiddish crashing against the tight vowels and sharp Ts of modern Hebrew — a reminder of the multitude of Jewish ethnicities that call LA. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023

Monday night they were said through tears, out loud, in a cacophony of accents — the lyric diphthongs and soft Ss of Yiddish crashing against the tight vowels and sharp Ts of modern Hebrew — a reminder of the multitude of Jewish ethnicities that call LA. home. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023

Nkechi asked him in those early months, in her broad, Americanized diphthongs. —Krithika Varagur, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023

Our heroes come from House Atreides, their elegance enhanced by that smooth classical diphthong. —Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2021

The reader can almost hear Camilleri’s longtime translator, Stephen Sartarelli, chuckling over his rendition of Catarella’s chatter as that mishmash of h-dropping Cockney and diphthong-slaying Brooklynese. —Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2021

Even the big diphthongs that my grandfather’s years in the States had tamped down swelled back to their former glory in this company. —Kevin Dettmar, The New Yorker, 20 July 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English diptonge, from Middle French diptongue, from Late Latin dipthongus, from Greek diphthongos, from di- + phthongos voice, sound

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing diphthong

• falling diphthong
• rising diphthong

Kids Definition

diphthong

noun

diph·​thong ˈdif-ˌthȯŋ 

ˈdip-

: a two-element speech sound that begins with the tongue position for one vowel and ends with the tongue position for another all within one syllable

the sounds of "ou" in "out" and of "oy" in "boy" are diphthongs