Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

obstruent

/ˈɒbstɹuːənt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.35 in modern English

Syllables: ob-stru-ent
IPA: /ˈɒbstɹuːənt/

11

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Causing obstruction; blocking up.

noun

A consonant sound formed by obstructing the airway, causing turbulence; a plosive, fricative, or affricate.

noun

Anything that obstructs, especially in the passages of the body.

Example Sentences

"an obstruent medicine"
"Lehmann (1998:77) and Steever (1998: 14, 16) considered āytam an allophone of Tamil /y/ before obstruents, but there is no real evidence for this assumption."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin obstruēns, obstruentis.

Inflected Forms

more obstruent (comparative) most obstruent (superlative) obstruents (plural)

Derived Forms

deobstruent unobstruent

Phrases

final obstruent devoicing

Frequently Paired Words

obstruency continuant

Synonyms

hindering

Antonyms

sonorant

Questions

How do you pronounce obstruent?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɒbstɹuːənt/.
What does obstruent mean?: Causing obstruction; blocking up.
Where does obstruent come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin obstruēns, obstruentis.

How to pronounce obstruent

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