Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gumbo

/ˈɡʌm.boʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.70 in modern English

Syllables: gum-bo
IPA: /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/

10

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Synonym of okra: the plant or its edible capsules.

Countable

noun

A soup or stew popular in Louisiana, consisting of a strong stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener (often okra), and the "Holy Trinity" of celery, bell peppers, and onions.

Countable

noun

A fine silty soil that when wet becomes very thick and heavy.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"The team stuck fast in the black muck, and every effort to extricate them served only to imbed them more hopelessly in the sticky gumbo."
"There are no poorer roads in all the United States than the "gumbo" roads of the south—gumbo being the name give a certain kind of mud or clay that is particularly sticky, clings tenaciously, seems to have no bottom, and will not support any weight."
"The red gumbo soil uttered ugly sucking sounds at the touch of a man's boot."

Etymology

Borrowed from Louisiana French gombo, possibly via Louisiana Creole gombo, from Kimbundu ingombo, plural of kingombo (“okra”); compare Portuguese quingombó.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: gombo, ingombo

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

gumbos (plural) gombo (alternative)

Phrases

gumbo limbo gumbo z'herbes

Synonyms

okra okra plant lady's-finger abelmoschus esculentus hibiscus esculentus gumbo soil

Rhymes With

jumbo colombo dumbo columbo trumbo palumbo cumbo mumbo jumbo bumbo umbo rumbo

Questions

How do you pronounce gumbo?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡʌm.boʊ/.
What does gumbo mean?: Synonym of okra: the plant or its edible capsules.
Where does gumbo come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce gumbo

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