How to pronounce thunk
Say it like THUHNK. Thunk is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
VoiceSpeed
US American/θʌnk/THUHNK
UK British/θʌŋk/THUHNGK
- THUHNK
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Thunk pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- THUHNKSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "u" in cup.
American vs British pronunciation of thunk
American and British speakers say thunk in essentially the same way: /θʌnk/ in the US and /θʌŋk/ in the UK.
British respelling: THUHNGK.
What does thunk mean?
interjection
- Representing the dull sound of the impact of a heavy object striking another and coming to an immediate standstill, with neither object being broken by the impact.
- To strike against something, without breakage, making a "thunk" sound.“I was thunked on the head by his stick.”
- A delayed computation.
- In the Scheme programming language, a function or procedure taking no arguments.
- A specialized subroutine that one software module uses to execute code in another module.
Where does thunk come from?
By analogy with past participles ending in "-unk", such as drunk and sunk.
Questions about saying thunk
How do you pronounce thunk?
Say THUHNK. The American pronunciation is /θʌnk/. In British English it is /θʌŋk/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in thunk?
Thunk is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: THUHNK.
Do Americans and Brits say thunk the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /θʌnk/ and the British form is /θʌŋk/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.