Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

bigwig

/ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/ noun

Forms bigwigs big wig big-wig

  1. noun (informal) A person of importance in a group or organization. “The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.”

Synonyms

big cheese VIP baron big enchilada big gun big kahuna big man big name big noise big shot big wheel boss grand poobah head honcho heavy hitter heavyweight high muckamuck high muckety-muck king of all one surveys king of the castle kingpin top banana

Etymology

First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority (such as judges and Members of Parliament) wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A person of consequence; as, the bigwigs of society. [Jocose]

Etymology [Big,a.+ wig.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bigwig”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details