How to pronounce sting
Say it like STING. Sting 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 sting. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- STING
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Sting pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- STINGSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of sting
American and British speakers say sting in essentially the same way: /stɪŋ/ in the US and /stɪŋ/ in the UK.
British respelling: STING.
What does sting mean?
- cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort“The sun burned his face”
- deliver a sting to“A bee stung my arm yesterday”
- saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous“They stuck me with the dinner bill”“I was stung with a huge tax bill”
- a kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung“the sting of death”“he felt the stinging of nettles”
- a mental pain or distress“a pang of conscience”
- a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin
Where does sting come from?
From Middle English styng, sting, stynge, stenge, from Old English sting, stincg (“a sting, stab, thrust made with a pointed instrument; the wound made by a stab or sting”), from Proto-Germanic *stingaz; possibly also from Old English stynġ
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with sting
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of sting.
Questions about saying sting
How do you pronounce sting?
Say STING. The American pronunciation is /stɪŋ/. In British English it is /stɪŋ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in sting?
Sting is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: STING.
Do Americans and Brits say sting the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /stɪŋ/ and the British form is /stɪŋ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.