Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

chekhov's gun

/t͡ʃɛ.kɔfs ɡʌn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.17 in modern English

Syllables
chekhov's -gun
IPA
/t͡ʃɛ.kɔfs ɡʌn/
27
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

name

An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Calque of Russian Чеховское ружьё (Čexovskoje ružʹjó). The principle was articulated by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and reported in various forms.

Frequently Paired Words

MacGuffin

Questions

How do you pronounce chekhov's gun?
The recorded pronunciation is /t͡ʃɛ.kɔfs ɡʌn/.
What does chekhov's gun mean?
A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.
Where does chekhov's gun come from?
Calque of Russian Чеховское ружьё (Čexovskoje ružʹjó). The principle was articulated by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and reported in various forms.

How to pronounce chekhov's gun

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “chekhov's gun”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/t͡ʃɛ.kɔfs ɡʌn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “chekhov's gun”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “chekhov's gun” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.