How do you pronounce proverbial?

The recorded pronunciation is /pɹəˈvɜɹb.iː.əl/.

proverbial

/pɹəˈvɜɹb.iː.əl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.13 in modern English

Syllables: prover-bial
IPA: /pɹəˈvɜɹb.iː.əl/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, cliché, fable, or fairy tale.

adj

Optionally placed before an element of a well-known proverb or metaphor to emphasize that the element is not being used in a literal sense (see Usage notes below)

adj

Widely known; famous; stereotypical.

noun

Used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase.

noun

The groin or the testicles.

Example Sentences

"The busyness of a beaver is proverbial."
"The beaver in this instance upheld the reputation of the proverbial one: her output was prodigious."
"Doris: You're making me feel like the proverbial stepmother."
"the proverbial smoking gun"
"the proverbial spilled milk"
"The visit was a warning shot across our proverbial bow"

Etymology

From Latin prōverbiālis, equivalent to proverb + -ial

Word Breakdown

Suffix: proverb

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /pɹəˈvɜɹb.iː.əl/

Inflected Forms

more proverbial (comparative) most proverbial (superlative) proverbials (plural)

Derived Forms

proverbialise proverbialize proverbialism proverbialist proverbiality proverbially proverbialness unproverbial

Phrases

the proverbial dog that caught the car up the proverbial

Rhymes With

adverbial