SpeakMetry
    Start free

    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

    1. 1Noun (a rude remark): IN-sult.
    2. 2Verb (to be rude to someone): in-SULT.
    3. 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 sitnn as in noss as in seeʌu as in cupll as in lighttt 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-untrecordREK-ordobjectOB-jiktsubjectSUB-jiktprojectPROJ-ektcontractKON-trakt

    Keep exploring

    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

    Next step

    Find every word you're getting wrong

    SpeakMetry's Pronunciation Coach scores your speech on the features IELTS examiners assess — individual sounds, word and sentence stress, intonation and rhythm — and builds a plan from your weakest sounds. Free to start.

    Try the Pronunciation Coach free