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

booby

/ˈbuːbi/ noun, verb, adjective

Forms boobies boobying boobied boobier boobiest

  1. noun A stupid person.
  2. noun Any of various large tropical seabirds from the genera Sula and Papasula in the family Sulidae, traditionally considered to be stupid.
  3. noun In the game of croquet, a ball that has not passed through the first wicket.
  4. verb (rare, intransitive) To behave stupidly; to act like a booby.
  5. verb (transitive) To install a booby trap on or at (something); to attack (someone) with a booby trap.
  6. adjective (slang, obsolete) Stupid; unintelligent.
  7. noun (colloquial or childish) A breast.
  8. adjective (informal, of clothing or a person) Displaying breasts prominently.
  9. adjective (informal) Having large breasts.

Synonyms

alcatote asshat arsehole asshole bayard berk birdbrain blither bobchin bonehead bozo buffoon brickhead Charlie chucklehead chowderhead chump clart clown der-brain dumbbell dummy dope boob pinhead

Etymology

17th century. From Spanish bobo, from Latin balbus (“stammering”).
(bird): Compare typologically Translingual Morus, German Tölpel, Polish głuptak (akin to głupek), Russian о́луша (óluša) (akin to о́лух (ólux)).

From the earlier form bubby.

From boob + -y.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A dunce; a stupid fellow.
  2. noun (a) A swimming bird (Sula fiber or S. sula) related to the common gannet, and found in the West Indies, nesting on the bare rocks. It is so called on account of its apparent stupidity. The name is also sometimes applied to other species of gannets; as, S. piscator, the red-footed booby.
  3. adjective Having the characteristics of a booby; stupid.

Etymology [Sp. bobe dunce, idiot; cf. L. balbus stammering, E. barbarous.]

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