Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

grapefruit

/ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹut/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.17 in modern English

Syllables: grape-fruit
IPA: /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹut/

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of Citrus maxima and sweet orange.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The large spherical tart fruit produced by this tree.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Large breasts; by extension, a woman with large breasts.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Results have begun to come in and at Comfort Castle this month I spent a useful and happy half day carting round 8 children in my car to their homes where we all helped to fill in with good soil and manure, their excellently dug holes and planted the grapefruit."
"Grapefruit is high in vitamin C. The pink and red varieties contain vitamin A (betacarotene) and lycopene, an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. Grapefruit contains a chemical that can alter intestinal absorption of some medications and lead to higher than normal blood levels of some drugs and potential problems."
"Once loaded by Canaveral, the grapefruit are transported to Japan, where the shipments are unloaded by employees of Japanese stevedoring companies. The grapefruit are then received by the Japanese importers."
"Cupping her grapefruits in her hands, she closed her eyes and imagined her date grasping them, exploring their size, weight, and firmness."
"Dan hauled her to the carpet as she fell limp over him. She stretched out on her back, her grapefruits, fitted snugly into her sturdy cotton bra, rock hard under his nose."
"In walked my supposedly dead niece Esmerelda wearing shorts that didn't exist and a top that made her grapefruits look like honeydews, if you get my drift."

Etymology

Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree, early 19th c. Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pomelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis, meaning “great citrus [fruit]”, due to the size of its fruit. A new pomelo variety might first have been called a GRAYT-froot (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced GRAYP-froot.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹut/
British English: /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹuːt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

grapefruits (plural)

Derived Forms

grapefruitade grapefruitini grapefruitlike grapefruity

Phrases

Chinese grapefruit grapefruit ade grapefruit juice grapefruit knife Grapefruit League grapefruit mint grapefruit spoon

Synonyms

pomelo shaddock forbidden fruit grapefruit tree Citrus × paradisi Citrus sinensis × Citrus grandis Citrus sinensis × Citrus maxima breasts

Questions

How do you pronounce grapefruit?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡɹeɪ̯pfɹut/.
What does grapefruit mean?: The tree of the species Citrus paradisi, a hybrid of Citrus maxima and sweet orange.
Where does grapefruit come from?: Widely assumed to be a marketing term from grape + fruit, an allusion to the supposed grapelike clusters of fruit on the tree, early 19th c. Ciardi proposes another theory: one of the pomelo's botanical names is Citrus grandis, meaning “great citrus [fruit]”, due to the size of its fruit. A new pomelo variety might first have been called a GRAYT-froot (see greatfruit), and through the process of assimilation, the word came to be pronounced GRAYP-froot.

How to pronounce grapefruit

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