Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

great leap forward

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.91 in modern English

Syllables
great leap -for-ward
IPA
26
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

Example Sentences

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 大躍進/大跃进 (Dàyuèjìn). Coined by a People's Daily commentator in 1957.

Inflected Forms

the Great Leap Forward (canonical)

Questions

What does great leap forward mean?
A vast economic and social plan lasting from 1958 to 1961 which aimed to use the Chinese population to rapidly transform the Communist China from a primarily agrarian economy by peasant farmers into a modern communist society through agriculturalization and industrialization, but failed disastrously (resulting in massive famine and the deaths of many millions of people).
Where does great leap forward come from?
Calque from Chinese 大躍進/大跃进 (Dàyuèjìn). Coined by a People's Daily commentator in 1957.

How to pronounce great leap forward

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