To pronounce "familiar", say fam-IL-iar — 3 syllables, IPA /fəˈmɪɫjɝ/. Tap play below to hear it in four English accents, or practice it syllable by syllable.
familiar
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Accent
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3
Syllables
8
Letters
/fəˈmɪɫjɝ/
🇺🇸 IPA (US)
/fəmˈɪliə/
🇬🇧 IPA (UK)
Break "familiar" into 3 beats and lean on "IL" — that's the stressed one. It rhymes with unfamiliar and devillier, if that helps it stick.
noun
“The witch’s familiar was a black cat.”
adjective
“there’s a familiar face; that tune sounds familiar”
“I'm quite familiar with this system; she's not familiar with manual gears”
Real example sentences from Tatoeba (CC-BY) — tap to hear each one, or see it used on YouGlish.
Practicing rhymes trains the same ending sounds.
"Familiar" has 3 syllables: fam · il · iar.
The IPA transcription of "familiar" is /fəˈmɪɫjɝ/.
Familiar: An attendant spirit, often in animal or demon form.
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