How to pronounce plague
Say it like PLAYG. Plague 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 plague. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- PLAYG
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Plague pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- PLAYGSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ay" in day.
American vs British pronunciation of plague
American and British speakers say plague in essentially the same way: /pleɪɡ/ in the US and /pleɪɡ/ in the UK.
British respelling: PLAYG.
What does plague mean?
- cause to suffer a blight“Too much rain may blight the garden with mold”
- annoy continually or chronically“He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked”“This man harasses his female co-workers”
- a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
- any epidemic disease with a high death rate
- a swarm of insects that attack plants“a plague of grasshoppers”
Where does plague come from?
From Middle English plage, borrowed from Old French plage, from Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), from plangō (“to strike”).
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with plague
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of plague.
Questions about saying plague
How do you pronounce plague?
Say PLAYG. The American pronunciation is /pleɪɡ/. In British English it is /pleɪɡ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in plague?
Plague is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: PLAYG.
Do Americans and Brits say plague the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /pleɪɡ/ and the British form is /pleɪɡ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.