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

mystify

/ˈmɪstɪfaɪ/ verb

Forms mystifies mystifying mystified

  1. verb (transitive) To thoroughly confuse, befuddle, or bewilder. “Solar eclipses continued to mystify ancient humans for thousands of years.”

Synonyms

perplex vex stick get puzzle baffle beat pose bewilder flummox stupefy nonplus gravel amaze dumbfound

Antonyms

demystify

Etymology

From French mystifier, from Ancient Greek μυστικός (mustikós, “secret, mystic”) + Latin -ficare.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To involve in mystery; to make obscure or difficult to understand; as, to mystify a passage of Scripture.
  2. verb To perplex the mind of; to puzzle; to impose upon the credulity of ; as, to mystify an opponent.

Etymology [F. mystifier, fr. Gr. -ficare (in comp.) to make. See 1st Mystery, and -fy.]

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