Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

monsieur

/məˈsjʊə(ɹ)/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.39 in modern English

Syllables: mon-sieur
IPA: /məˈsjʊə(ɹ)/

10

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A man, especially a French gentleman.

Dated

noun

Mister, especially in a French context.

Example Sentences

"Pass round the decanters; glad to see ye; fill up, monsieurs!"
"It will appear by the Minutes sent You to June i6th last, and by those which accompany this Letter, that Messieurs Smith and Schlatter have done their Part; [...]"
"As the Monsieurs suddenly showed up and confronted the situation with wicked grins on their faces, the gang members decided to sullenly disperse and slink away. It was like a scene from an old West showdown."
"Estella smiled when she considered how very different her circumstances were now to those when, not so long ago, she had feared Monsieur Jones, and thought of him only as her captor. Now, he was something else: her liberator, ..."

Etymology

From French monsieur. Doublet of monseigneur and monsignor.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: monsieur

Usage

Dated

Inflected Forms

monsieurs (plural) messieurs (plural)

Phrases

croque-monsieur

Frequently Paired Words

croque-monsieur

Synonyms

M.

Rhymes With

were her per sir transfer prefer occur refer der inter fur entrepreneur

Questions

How do you pronounce monsieur?: The recorded pronunciation is /məˈsjʊə(ɹ)/.
What does monsieur mean?: A man, especially a French gentleman.
Where does monsieur come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce monsieur

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