Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

downburst

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.15 in modern English

Syllables
down-burst
IPA
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A powerful downward air current, especially one during a thunderstorm, often creating powerful divergent horizontal winds and strong wind shear upon impacting the surface.

Etymology

From down- + burst, coined by American meteorologist Horace R. Byers and Japanese and American meteorologist Tetsuya T. Fujita in November 1975.

Word Breakdown

Inflected Forms

downbursts (plural)

Questions

What does downburst mean?
A powerful downward air current, especially one during a thunderstorm, often creating powerful divergent horizontal winds and strong wind shear upon impacting the surface.
Where does downburst come from?
From down- + burst, coined by American meteorologist Horace R. Byers and Japanese and American meteorologist Tetsuya T. Fujita in November 1975.

How to pronounce downburst

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “downburst”.
  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 “downburst”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “downburst” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.