pronounce

verb

pro·nounce prə-ˈnau̇n(t)s

pronounced; pronouncing

Synonyms of pronounce next

transitive verb

: to declare officially or ceremoniously

the minister pronounced them husband and wife

: to declare authoritatively or as an opinion

doctors pronounced him fit to resume duties

: to employ the organs of speech to produce

pronounce these words

especially : to say correctly

I can't pronounce his name

: to represent in printed characters the spoken counterpart of (an orthographic representation)

both dictionaries pronounce clique the same

: recite

speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you—

William Shakespeare

intransitive verb

: to pass judgment

: to produce the components of spoken language

pronounceability

prə-ˌnau̇n(t)-sə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

pronounceable

prə-ˈnau̇n(t)-sə-bəl

adjective

pronouncer noun

Examples of pronounce in a Sentence

She practices pronouncing foreign words. I'm sorry. I can't pronounce your name. The priest pronounced a blessing on their home. The doctors pronounced him fit to go back to work. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Many senators are pronouncing in favor of the bill. The judge pronounced for the defendant. See More

Recent Examples on the Web That same officer fired shots at the suspect, who was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. —

Nicole Asbury, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2023 Deputies and paramedics responding to the school tried to revive the girl, who later was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Pima County sheriff's office said. —

CBS News, 24 Nov. 2023 He was officially pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital, just north of Dealey Plaza. —

Lynsey Eidell, Peoplemag, 22 Nov. 2023 Of all the City Section championship football games set for this weekend, the contrast in styles between Chatsworth and Fairfax in Saturday’s 2 p.m. Division II final at Valley College should be most pronounced. —

Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023 One girl and the woman were pronounced dead at the scene and the other girl was transported to the hospital in critical condition. About an hour later, officers arrived at Warrington Road for another shooting where a woman was found with an apparent gunshot wound and pronounced dead at the scene. —

Landon Mion, Fox News, 19 Nov. 2023 For Orsted in the U.S., supply chain bottlenecks, escalating input expenses, and higher interest rates have been particularly pronounced. —

Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 17 Nov. 2023 The girl learned new words slowly and struggled to pronounce them correctly, mixing up similar-sounding words. —

Sarah Carr, Scientific American, 16 Nov. 2023 Aviram Azari’s punishment was pronounced on Thursday by US District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan. —

Chris Dolmetsch, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pronounce.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French pronuncier, from Latin pronuntiare, from pro- forth + nuntiare to report, from nuntius messenger — more at pro-

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of pronounce was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century