Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

destructive interference

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.64 in modern English

Syllables
de-struc-tive in-ter-fer-ence
IPA
34
Scrabble Score
23
Letters
6
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

When two waves meet and their crests and troughs cancel each other out, resulting in a smaller wave or no wave at all, occurring when they are out of phase (180 degrees apart), like noise-canceling headphones using opposite sound waves to create silence; the opposite of constructive interference, where waves add up to become bigger.

Inflected Forms

destructive interferences (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

active noise control anti-noise

Questions

What does destructive interference mean?
When two waves meet and their crests and troughs cancel each other out, resulting in a smaller wave or no wave at all, occurring when they are out of phase (180 degrees apart), like noise-canceling headphones using opposite sound waves to create silence; the opposite of constructive interference, where waves add up to become bigger.

How to pronounce destructive interference

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