How do you pronounce shock and awe?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈʃɑk(ə)nd ˈɔ/.

shock and awe

/ˈʃɑk(ə)nd ˈɔ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English

Syllables: shock- and awe
IPA: /ˈʃɑk(ə)nd ˈɔ/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A doctrine based on the use of spectacular displays of force.

Uncountable

verb

To use the "shock and awe" doctrine in an actual or potential conflict, or to otherwise use a spectacular display of force or authority.

Example Sentences

"To affect the will of the adversary, Rapid Dominance will apply a variety of approaches and techniques to achieve the necessary level of Shock and Awe at the appropriate strategic and military leverage points. […] Flowing from the primary concentration on affecting the adversary's will to resist through imposing a regime of Shock and Awe to achieve strategic aims and military objectives, four characteristics emerge that will define the Rapid Dominance military force."
"WWE and WCW gussied up the ritual with a lot of shock-and-awe pyrotechnics and the most innovative use of video graphics this side of MTV. Not so Extreme Championship Wrestling."
"The shock and awe that a human being could inspire navigating a stage with such effortless yet almost supernatural command (not for nothing did legends Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly congratulate Michael [Jackson] on his dancing) vaulted Jackson and Thriller to a new level of prominence."
"Photos, film, documentation of the city [Hiroshima, Japan] had been confiscated and censored almost immediately after Japan surrendered, and the only indelible image of the bombing was the power of the bomb itself: the "shock and awe" version of the mushroom cloud."
"One expression above all others has become associated with the invasion of Iraq – "shock and awe". Developed at the Pentagon in the mid-1990s, "shock and awe" was a doctrine designed to leave the enemy so demoralised and disoriented that its will to resist crumbled. In popular parlance it has come to mean the application of overwhelming force, the effective obliteration of the enemy, and for many the term "shock and awe" has come to epitomise the crudeness of the American assault on Iraq."
"In defense of moderation, he proposed simply stomping out religious radicals. (In American terms: shock and awe, rather than hearts and minds.)"

Etymology

Coined by American defence strategists Harlan Kenneth Ullman (born 1941) and James P. Wade, Jr., in Shock and Awe (1996): see the quotation. The term gained greater public attention during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by US troops.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈʃɑk(ə)nd ˈɔ/
British English: /ˈʃɒk(ə)nd ˈɔː/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

shocks and awes (present, singular) shocking and awing (participle, present) shocking and aweing (participle, present) shocked and awed (participle, past) shocked and awed (past)

Synonyms

rapid dominance

Rhymes With

law saw draw raw swing saw aw shaw withdraw straw jaw thoughtful awe