How to pronounce grime
Say it like GRYME. Grime is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce grime. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- GRYME
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Grime pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- GRYMESay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in time.
American vs British pronunciation of grime
American and British speakers say grime in essentially the same way: /ɡraɪm/ in the US and /ɡraɪm/ in the UK.
British respelling: GRYME.
What does grime mean?
- Dirt, grease, soot, etc. that is ingrained and difficult to remove.“Underneath all that soot, dirt and grime is the true beauty of the church in soft shades of sandstone.”
- A genre of urban music that emerged in London, England, in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.
- To begrime; to cake with dirt.
Where does grime come from?
Likely influenced by dialectal Dutch grijmsel (“grit, grime”), Dutch grijm (“soot, grime”), Middle Dutch gryme (“mask”), Middle Low German greme (“dirt”), compare Danish grime (“a halter”), Danish grimet (“soiled, stripy”), Norwegian Bokmål
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with grime
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of grime.
Questions about saying grime
How do you pronounce grime?
Say GRYME. The American pronunciation is /ɡraɪm/. In British English it is /ɡraɪm/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in grime?
Grime is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: GRYME.
Do Americans and Brits say grime the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /ɡraɪm/ and the British form is /ɡraɪm/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.