How to pronounce beige
Say it like BAYZH. Beige is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
- BAYZH
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Tip: Ends with the soft 'zh' sound in measure: 'bayzh'.
Beige pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- BAYZHSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ay" in day.
American vs British pronunciation of beige
American and British speakers say beige in essentially the same way: /beɪʒ/ in the US and /beɪʒ/ in the UK.
British respelling: BAYZH.
What does beige mean?
- A colour, variously defined from a pale brown, to a yellow greyish off-white.
- Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.
- Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
- Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.
Where does beige come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”)
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Questions about saying beige
How do you pronounce beige?
Say BAYZH. The American pronunciation is /beɪʒ/. In British English it is /beɪʒ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in beige?
Beige is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: BAYZH.
Do Americans and Brits say beige the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /beɪʒ/ and the British form is /beɪʒ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.