Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bubble tea

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.06 in modern English

Syllables
bub-ble tea
IPA
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Sweetened tea with milk and tapioca pearls, often including fruit juice, syrup and other ingredients.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

A phono-semantic match for boba tea (see that entry for more), ultimately from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “busty woman; tapioca pearl(s)”). The match is from the supposed resemblance of the tapioca pearls to bubbles.

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

bubble teas (plural)

Synonyms

boba boba tea milk tea pearl cooler pearl tea

Questions

What does bubble tea mean?
Sweetened tea with milk and tapioca pearls, often including fruit juice, syrup and other ingredients.
Where does bubble tea come from?
A phono-semantic match for boba tea (see that entry for more), ultimately from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “busty woman; tapioca pearl(s)”). The match is from the supposed resemblance of the tapioca pearls to bubbles.

How to pronounce bubble tea

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bubble tea”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bubble tea”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “bubble tea” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.