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

airhead

UK /ˈɛə̯hɛd/ · US /ˈɛɹˌ(h)ɛd/ noun

Forms airheads

  1. noun (military) An area of hostile territory that has been seized for use as an airbase to ensure the further safe landing of troops and materiel.
  2. noun (by extension) A (usually temporary) landing area for aircraft for supplying a non-military operation.
  3. noun (originally US, informal, derogatory) A foolish, silly, or unintelligent person.

Synonyms

airling bimbo bubblehead addle-brain addlehead addle pate baboon beanbrain beetlebrain beetlehead berk birdbrain blockhead blubberbrain bonehead Boeotian boob bozo brainlet brickhead

Etymology

From air + head (“foremost, topmost, or leading part”), sense 1 (“area of hostile territory seized for use as an airbase”) by analogy with beachhead and bridgehead.

From air + head, in the sense of having one’s head filled with air instead of a brain; compare empty-headed.

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “airhead”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details