Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

penetrating

/ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪtɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.33 in modern English

Syllables: pen-e-trat-ing
IPA: /ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪtɪŋ/

14

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Able to pierce or penetrate

adj

Looking deeply into; piercing

adj

Demonstrating acute or keen understanding

verb

present participle and gerund of penetrate

Example Sentences

"The skunk produces a penetrating odor."
"As the rest of the film was made on location in the railway yards of Havre and not in a studio, and was given a sound-track of penetrating vividness, this whole production gives the closest possible ring of truth of any film about railways."
"He had a very penetrating pair of brown eyes."
"His novel shows a penetrating insight into the criminal mind."

Inflected Forms

more penetrating (comparative) most penetrating (superlative)

Derived Forms

nonpenetrating penetratingly penetratingness unpenetrating

Synonyms

penetrative acute discriminating incisive keen knifelike piercing sharp

Questions

How do you pronounce penetrating?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪtɪŋ/.
What does penetrating mean?: Able to pierce or penetrate

How to pronounce penetrating

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