How to pronounce queen
Say it like KWEEN. Queen 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 queen. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- KWEEN
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Queen pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- KWEENSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of queen
American and British speakers say queen in essentially the same way: /kwin/ in the US and /kwiːn/ in the UK.
British respelling: KWEEN.
What does queen mean?
- the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
- a female sovereign ruler
- the wife or widow of a king
- promote to a queen, as of a pawn in chess
- become a queen“her pawn queened”
Where does queen come from?
In reference to insects, by analogy with the obsolete term king, which it took over from starting in the 1600s, when they were discovered to be female.
Similar and opposite words
Opposite meaning
Words that rhyme with queen
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of queen.
Questions about saying queen
How do you pronounce queen?
Say KWEEN. The American pronunciation is /kwin/. In British English it is /kwiːn/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in queen?
Queen is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: KWEEN.
Do Americans and Brits say queen the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /kwin/ and the British form is /kwiːn/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.