Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

souvenir

/ˈsu.vəˌnɪɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.36 in modern English

Syllables: sou-ve-nir
IPA: /ˈsu.vəˌnɪɹ/

11

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An item of sentimental value, that is given or kept to remember an event or location.

verb

To take (something) as a souvenir, especially illicitly, for example during wartime.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Back then, nobody knew in the schoolyard / Now then, you have grown up to be this hard / Go then, walk through this world with your heart scarred / You're the souvenir of sadness"
"The tourists stuck to the safe confines of the gift shop, where they bought souvenir combs, shot glasses, oversize pencils, and blocks of cedar painted with rhyming poems and shellacked to a high gloss."
""Doubletime up to the ville and souvenir me one cute orphan, man, but be sure you get a dirty one, a really skuzzy one.""
"The word is they're waiting for some blokes who had gone off souveniring before the order was announced."

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French souvenir (literally “memory”). Compare memento.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsu.vəˌnɪɹ/
British English: /ˌsuː.vəˈnɪə/

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

souvenirs (plural) souvenier (alternative, obsolete) souvenirs (present, singular) souveniring (participle, present) souvenired (participle, past) souvenired (past)

Phrases

one more time for the sweet souvenir souvenir plot souvenir sheet

Synonyms

keepsake memento memorabilia token relic

Rhymes With

year near clear career fear appear dear beer premier severe engineer gear

Questions

How do you pronounce souvenir?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsu.vəˌnɪɹ/.
What does souvenir mean?: An item of sentimental value, that is given or kept to remember an event or location.
Where does souvenir come from?: Unadapted borrowing from French souvenir (literally “memory”). Compare memento.

How to pronounce souvenir

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