Heteronym
"Invalid" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say IN-vuh-lid when it means a person who is ill or disabled (noun), and in-VAL-id when it means not valid or correct (adjective). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
IN-vuh-lid
a person who is ill or disabled
“He cared for the invalid.”
adjective
in-VAL-id
not valid or correct
“That ticket is invalid.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| IN-vuh-lid | noun | a person who is ill or disabled |
| in-VAL-id | adjective | not valid or correct |
"Invalid" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say IN-vuh-lid when it means a person who is ill or disabled (noun), and in-VAL-id when it means not valid or correct (adjective). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced IN-vuh-lid, "invalid" is a noun meaning a person who is ill or disabled. For example: "He cared for the invalid."
Pronounced in-VAL-id, "invalid" is a adjective meaning not valid or correct. For example: "That ticket is invalid."
"Invalid" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “invalid”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.