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

milksop

/ˈmɪlkˌsɒp/ noun

Forms milksops

  1. noun A piece of bread sopped in milk.
  2. noun A dish consisting of bread pieces in a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and covered in hot milk.
  3. noun (by extension, derogatory) An easily frightened, ineffectual, or weak person.

Synonyms

milquetoast sissy wuss big girl's blouse candy-arse candy-ass crybaby namby namby-pamby nestle-cock pansy pantywaist poon punk pushover pussy softy tenderling weakling weenie

Antonyms

daredevil dogmatist firebrand hypermasculine man shrew spitfire troublemaker

Etymology

From Middle English milksop, mylk sop, mylke soppe, equivalent to milk + sop.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A piece of bread sopped in milk; figuratively, an effeminate or weak-minded person. Shak.

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