disfluency

noun

dis·flu·en·cy | \ dis-ˈflü-ən(t)-sē

variants: or dysfluency

Definition of disfluency

1 : an involuntary disruption in the flow of speech that may occur during normal childhood development of spoken language or during normal adult speech but is most often symptomatic of a speech impairment especially : a disorder of vocal communication that is marked by frequent involuntary disruption or blocking of speech (as by repetition of all or part of a word or by prolonging vocal sounds) and typically has an onset during childhood : stuttering

2 : an act or instance of disfluency : stutter

Other Words from disfluency Example Sentences Learn More About disfluency

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Other Words from disfluency

disfluent \ dis-ˈflü-ənt

\ or dysfluent adjective

a disfluent child dysfluent speech

Examples of disfluency in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Google is constantly updating its Google Assistant with new voice samples to better understand people with accents or speech disfluencies. — Kevin Wheeler, USA TODAY, 6 Jan. 2020 People who stutter experience an excessive amount of disfluency, or involuntary speech disruptions, stumbling over at least 10 percent of their words. — Rachel Hoge, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'disfluency.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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