Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

huckleberry

/ˈhʌkl̩ˌbɛɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.74 in modern English

Syllables: huck-le-ber-ry
IPA: /ˈhʌkl̩ˌbɛɹi/

25

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small round fruit of a dark blue or red color, of several plants in the related genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.

noun

A shrub growing this fruit.

noun

A small amount, a short distance, as in the phrase huckleberry above a persimmon.

noun

A person of little consequence.

Slang

noun

The person one is looking for; the right person for the job.

American usage; Slang

verb

To pick huckleberries.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn."
"Porter preferred prose to poetry. Prose seemed to him to be a concrete, practical form of expression. But poetry, as he informed a poet who signed his name “Evergreen,” was “a huckleberry beyond us.”"
"1999, Paul Lieberstein, "De-Kahnstructing Henry" (King of the Hill TV episode You got such a bug in your bonnet about phones? Check this out. I call France on this phone whenever I want. France, Europe, huckleberry."
"I'm your huckleberry."

Etymology

Probably an alteration of Middle English hurtilbery (“whortleberry”). American English from 1660s.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈhʌkl̩ˌbɛɹi/
British English: /ˈhʌkl̩b(ə)ɹi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

huckleberries (plural) huckleberries (present, singular) huckleberrying (participle, present) huckleberried (participle, past) huckleberried (past)

Phrases

above one's huckleberry bear huckleberry black huckleberry blue huckleberry box huckleberry bush huckleberry California huckleberry dwarf huckleberry

Frequently Paired Words

huckle

Questions

How do you pronounce huckleberry?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhʌkl̩ˌbɛɹi/.
What does huckleberry mean?: A small round fruit of a dark blue or red color, of several plants in the related genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.
Where does huckleberry come from?: Probably an alteration of Middle English hurtilbery (“whortleberry”). American English from 1660s.

How to pronounce huckleberry

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