Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

verboten

/ˌfəɹˈboʊt(ə)n/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.11 in modern English

Syllables: ver-bot-en
IPA: /ˌfəɹˈboʊt(ə)n/

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

(Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.

Humorous

Example Sentences

"Before that, students and professors could date whomever we wanted; the next day we were off-limits to one another—verboten, traife, dangerous (and perhaps, therefore, all the more alluring)."
"Or was it because he [Mark Zuckerberg] has since been steeped in the relentless positivity of Silicon Valley, where it is verboten to imagine a bad outcome?"

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German verboten (“banned, forbidden, prohibited”). Doublet of forbidden.

Word Breakdown

Root: *bʰewdʰ-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌfəɹˈboʊt(ə)n/
British English: /ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/

Usage

Humorous

Synonyms

banned disallowed proscribed forbidden impermissible illegal illicit interdicted nonallowed nonlicet prohibited proscript

Rhymes With

stoughton wotan minnesotan moten wroten rotan dakotan doten rowton broten rhoton rhoten

Questions

How do you pronounce verboten?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌfəɹˈboʊt(ə)n/.
What does verboten mean?: (Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.
Where does verboten come from?: Unadapted borrowing from German verboten (“banned, forbidden, prohibited”). Doublet of forbidden.

How to pronounce verboten

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