Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

disservice

/dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.92 in modern English

Syllables: dis-ser-vice
IPA: /dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/

16

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Service that results in harm; an (intentionally or unintentionally) unhelpful, harmful action.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To disserve, to provide a disservice to; to provide harmful or inadequate service to.

Example Sentences

"One renders young people a disservice by heaping unearned rewards on them."
"Often schools of music focus solely on the canon of Western classical art music, but this is a disservice to music educators who will have to deal with students from many different backgrounds and preferences."
"Treating narratives like something you can stretch out to give more value does a disservice to players and our engagement."
"One librarian said, "I could double the circulation tomorrow by closing the periodical stacks and counting every time I handed out a magazine, but I would be disservicing our readers.""

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dis- Old French des-bor. Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English service English disservice From dis- + service.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/
British English: /dɪ(s)ˈsɜːvɪs/

Usage

Inflected Forms

disservices (plural) disservices (present, singular) disservicing (participle, present) disserviced (participle, past) disserviced (past)

Frequently Paired Words

disserve

Synonyms

ill service ill turn

Rhymes With

service nervous gervase

Questions

How do you pronounce disservice?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/.
What does disservice mean?: Service that results in harm; an (intentionally or unintentionally) unhelpful, harmful action.
Where does disservice come from?: Etymology tree Latin dis- Old French des-bor. Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English service English disservice From dis- + service.

How to pronounce disservice

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “disservice”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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