Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sweeney

/ˈswiːni/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.35 in modern English

Syllables: sweeney
IPA: /ˈswiːni/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A surname from Irish.

name

The Flying Squad, a branch of the London police service.

Slang

Example Sentences

"Experts agree that Sydney Sweeney is always winning. She emerges from this national dust-up only more powerful than ever."
"It turned out the police wouldn't raid the place until the Monday morning but in the meantime there were drinks to drink and drugs to take. Even Lettsbe and the Sweeney arrived and joined in the celebrations with us. The police, however, did hit Jill's address early on Monday morning."

Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Suibhne. Compare McSweeney.

Origin

Source language: Irish

Word Breakdown

Root: Ó Suibhne

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

Sweeneys (plural) Sweany (alternative) Sweeny (alternative) Swinney (alternative) the Sweeney (canonical)

Derived Forms

Swedey

Rhymes With

bikini genie martini lamborghini mussolini teeny zucchini mancini jeannie houdini cassini eugenie

Questions

How do you pronounce sweeney?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈswiːni/.
What does sweeney mean?: A surname from Irish.
Where does sweeney come from?: It is traced to Irish.

How to pronounce sweeney

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