Pronunciation · Words that change with stress

How to pronounce “insult”

IN-sult

2 syllables · stress on “IN”

INsult

Britishˈɪnsʌlt

Americanˈɪnsʌlt

In short

“insult” is pronounced IN-sult: 2 syllables, with the stress on “IN”. Both forms are frequent in conversational English and appear close together (“he insulted me — it was a real insult”), so the switch has to be fast. The version to avoid is in-SULT for the noun.

Say “insult” in 3 steps

1Noun (a rude remark): IN-sult.
2Verb (to be rude to someone): in-SULT.
3Practise the pair in one sentence to feel the switch.

The version to avoid

Commonly said as: in-SULT for the noun

Both forms are frequent in conversational English and appear close together (“he insulted me — it was a real insult”), so the switch has to be fast.

“insult” as a verb

Used when insult means to say something offensive to someone.

in-SULT

ɪnˈsʌlt · stress on “SULT”

inSULT

Hear real people say it

Model audio is consistent; real speech is not. Hearing several actual speakers is what makes a word recognisable when someone says it at full speed.

Real speakers

1 human recording

Actual people saying “insult”, not a synthetic voice. Real speech varies — that variation is what you need to recognise, and what a single model voice cannot show you.

Recordings from Wikimedia Commons by Dvortygirl, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Full credits.

Practise it out loud

Reading about a sound does not change your mouth. Say it, hear it back, and fix one thing at a time.

Say it yourself

0/6 practised

Listen first, then record. You get feedback on the individual sounds, the stress and the rhythm — no account needed, and nothing is stored.

Three speakers per accent

Recordings are used only to generate this feedback and are not stored. Your accent is never penalised: IELTS scores intelligibility, and so do we.

The sounds inside this word

Each links to a full guide with mouth position, audio and drills. If a word keeps failing, the problem is usually one of these.

ɪi as in sit nn as in no ss as in see ʌu as in cup ll as in light tt as in tea

More words that change with stress

Same pattern, same fix. Learning them as a group is far faster than one at a time.

presentPREZ-unt recordREK-ord objectOB-jikt subjectSUB-jikt projectPROJ-ekt contractKON-trakt

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce insult?

insult is pronounced IN-sult, written /ˈɪnsʌlt/ in IPA. Noun (a rude remark): IN-sult.

How many syllables are in insult?

two: IN-sult. The stress falls on “IN”.

What is the most common mistake with insult?

in-SULT for the noun. Both forms are frequent in conversational English and appear close together (“he insulted me — it was a real insult”), so the switch has to be fast.

Does insult change as a verb?

Yes. Used when insult means to say something offensive to someone. That form is pronounced in-SULT, /ɪnˈsʌlt/ in IPA.

The full sound library

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