Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shumai

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: shu-mai
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A traditional steamed Chinese pork dumpling served in dim sum.

Canadian usage; American usage

Example Sentences

"Hot and sour soup, shrimp toast, shumai, General Tso’s chicken, pork with garlic sauce, beef with asparagus, hot and spicy shrimp, sushi deluxe, cheesecake, fried bananas, litchi sherbet."

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 焼売 (shūmai), from Cantonese 燒賣 /烧卖 (siu¹ maai⁶⁻²).

Word Breakdown

Root: 燒賣

Usage

Canadian usage
American usage

Inflected Forms

shumais (plural) shao mai (alternative) shaomai (alternative) shui mai (alternative) shu mai (alternative) shūmai (alternative) sui maai (alternative) siew mai (alternative, Malaysia) siu mai (alternative, Malaysia) siumai (alternative, Malaysia) siomai (alternative, Philippines)

Questions

What does shumai mean?: A traditional steamed Chinese pork dumpling served in dim sum.
Where does shumai come from?: Borrowed from Japanese 焼売 (shūmai), from Cantonese 燒賣 /烧卖 (siu¹ maai⁶⁻²).

How to pronounce shumai

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