Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

eephus

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.03 in modern English

Syllables: ee-p-hus
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An off-speed pitch with unusually low velocity, intended to catch the hitter off guard.

Example Sentences

"Sewell was determined to live or die by the eephus."
"He figured that, if it were another eephus, he'd have time to react."
"When, on his first pitch, Sewell served an eephus, Williams almost broke his back trying to get to it."

Etymology

The naming of the pitch is generally credited to Maurice Van Robays in 1942, who said "it's a nothin' pitch, and eephus ain't nothing'". However, it is not clear what the source for the name is; possibly Hebrew אפס (“nothing, zero”).

Origin

Source language: Hebrew

Word Breakdown

Root: אפס

Inflected Forms

eephus pitch (alternative) ephus (alternative)

Questions

What does eephus mean?: An off-speed pitch with unusually low velocity, intended to catch the hitter off guard.
Where does eephus come from?: It is traced to Hebrew.

How to pronounce eephus

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