Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

somebody

/ˈsʌmˌbədi/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.80 in modern English

Syllables: some-body
IPA: /ˈsʌmˌbədi/

16

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

pron

Some unspecified person.

pron

Synonym of someone; an important person.

noun

noun

A recognised or important person, a celebrity.

Example Sentences

"Somebody has to clean this mess up."
"He could have been somebody!"
"In the nature of things a good many somebodies are always in hospital, and the law of averages had picked on me to be one of them a week or so before."
"So there, I know, was somebody or a combination of somebodys who did not know what the heck they were doing or dealing with."
"I'm tired of being a nobody – I want to be a somebody."

Etymology

From Middle English sum body, equivalent to some + body.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: sum body

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsʌmˌbədi/
British English: /ˈsʌmbˌɒdi/

Inflected Forms

some body (alternative, obsolete) some-body (alternative, obsolete) somebuddy (alternative, pronunciation spelling) sombuddy (alternative, pronunciation spelling) sombudy (alternative, pronunciation spelling) sumbody (alternative, pronunciation spelling) sumbuddy (alternative, pronunciation spelling) sby (alternative, abbreviation) sb (alternative, abbreviation) somebodies (plural) somebodys (plural)

Derived Forms

somebodiness

Phrases

somebody else

Frequently Paired Words

nobody everybody anybody somewhere something

Synonyms

someone person individual mortal soul

Questions

How do you pronounce somebody?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsʌmˌbədi/.
What does somebody mean?: Some unspecified person.
Where does somebody come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce somebody

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