phonetically
adverb
pho·net·ic·al·ly
fə-ˈne-ti-k(ə-)lē 
: in a phonetic manner or sense or from a phonetic point of view
words that are phonetically similar
especially
: by using a system of written symbols that closely represent speech sounds
Wine Enthusiast breaks down the toughest wine tongue twisters and spells them out for you phonetically, so you'll never be speechless around a sommelier again. —
Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Wine Enthusiast Magazine At the same time, the Communists abandoned the Wade-Giles system of phonetically rendering the sound of Mandarin using the Roman alphabet and adopted instead the pinyin system. —Jasper Becker
Jasper Becker Examples of phonetically in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Messages come in a rush of many voices, languages mixed seamlessly, Arabic spelled out phonetically.
—Jordan P. Hickey, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2024
In truth, Sabu, whose mother tongue was Kannada, was reciting his lines phonetically.
—Hazlitt, 29 Nov. 2023
The actor realized Myers was actually speaking Japanese, having phonetically memorized his lines so as to seem fluent.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 28 June 2023
On that visit and a subsequent session at the school with her daughter, Isaac’s mother, and Isaac’s teacher, Ms. Joseph found that her grandson was being given difficult reading assignments without being taught to parse the words by sounding them out phonetically.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2022
Selena learned Spanish phonetically to sing Tejano music.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2020
Amra-Faye Wright learned Japanese phonetically and played Velma in the Japanese company.
—New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021
At the time, schools were applying a literacy theory called whole language approach, which uses literature as a teaching tool and emphasizes learning through the context of words instead of breaking them down phonetically.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2022
Clerks often spelled names phonetically.
—Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2022
Jordan P. Hickey, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2024
In truth, Sabu, whose mother tongue was Kannada, was reciting his lines phonetically.
—Hazlitt, 29 Nov. 2023
The actor realized Myers was actually speaking Japanese, having phonetically memorized his lines so as to seem fluent.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 28 June 2023
On that visit and a subsequent session at the school with her daughter, Isaac’s mother, and Isaac’s teacher, Ms. Joseph found that her grandson was being given difficult reading assignments without being taught to parse the words by sounding them out phonetically.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2022
Selena learned Spanish phonetically to sing Tejano music.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2020
Amra-Faye Wright learned Japanese phonetically and played Velma in the Japanese company.
—New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021
At the time, schools were applying a literacy theory called whole language approach, which uses literature as a teaching tool and emphasizes learning through the context of words instead of breaking them down phonetically.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2022
Clerks often spelled names phonetically.
—Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'phonetically.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near phonetically
Cite this Entry
“Phonetically.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phonetically. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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