Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gumshoe

/ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.12 in modern English

Syllables: gumshoe
IPA: /ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A sneaker or rubber overshoe.

noun

Slang

verb

To act as a detective.

Slang

Example Sentences

""Who's this gumshoe guy from the bush league tailin' us?""
"So how does Santa go up and down chimneys and keep his clothes clean? MAIRE NIC SUIBHNE and her junior gumshoes get their claws into assorted Messrs Claus and come up with an answer . . ."
"The next thing they did was to send a man sent down there from Baltimore and he spent a good deal of time gumshoeing around in that county trying to get another individual put in as secretary-treasurer."
"But these days, more and more women are gumshoeing through the pages of murder mysteries."

Etymology

From gum + shoe.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/
British English: /ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

gumshoes (plural) gumshoes (present, singular) gumshoeing (participle, present) gumshoed (participle, past) gumshoed (past)

Frequently Paired Words

galoshes

Synonyms

detective dick private eye sleuth arctic galosh golosh rubber

Questions

How do you pronounce gumshoe?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡʌm.ʃuː/.
What does gumshoe mean?: A sneaker or rubber overshoe.
Where does gumshoe come from?: From gum + shoe.

How to pronounce gumshoe

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