Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

heavy metal

/ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.58 in modern English

Syllables
heavy met-al
IPA
/ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/
21
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any metal that has a specific gravity greater than about 5, especially one, such as lead, that is poisonous and may be a hazard in the environment. (There are many different definitions of what counts as a heavy metal; see Heavy metals for a discussion.)

Countable

noun

A genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.

Uncountable

noun

A genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.

Uncountable

noun

Guns or shot of large size.

Uncountable

noun

Great influence or power.

Uncountable

Etymology

According to the Oxford World's Classics edition of Anthony Trollope's Rachel Ray (1863), "big guns," as on a warship. The origin of the music genre sense is often disputed; it was used by William S. Burroughs in Soft Machine and Nova Express and various music critics claim to have coined it: Sandy Pearlman, Lester Bangs and Mike Saunders.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

heavy metals (plural)

Phrases

heavy metally heavy metal umlaut acid rock

Frequently Paired Words

acid rock

Synonyms

metal heavy metal music

Questions

How do you pronounce heavy metal?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/.
What does heavy metal mean?
Any metal that has a specific gravity greater than about 5, especially one, such as lead, that is poisonous and may be a hazard in the environment. (There are many different definitions of what counts as a heavy metal; see Heavy metals for a discussion.)
Where does heavy metal come from?
According to the Oxford World's Classics edition of Anthony Trollope's Rachel Ray (1863), "big guns," as on a warship. The origin of the music genre sense is often disputed; it was used by William S. Burroughs in Soft Machine and Nova Express and various music critics claim to have coined it: Sandy Pearlman, Lester Bangs and Mike Saunders.

How to pronounce heavy metal

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “heavy metal”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɛv.i ˌmɛt.əl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “heavy metal”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “heavy metal” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.