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

ropy

/ˈɹəʊpi/ adjective

Forms ropier ropiest ropey

  1. adjective Resembling rope in appearance or texture, used especially of muscles that are thick or hard to the touch.
  2. adjective Capable of forming rope-like or thread-like structures.
  3. adjective Of milk or another liquid: slimy, as after the action of Enterobacter aerogenes in syrup.
  4. adjective (UK, Ireland, colloquial) Of poor quality; in poor health.

Synonyms

bingy inferior second-rate shabby unwell ass bad base below par bottom-shelf BTEC bum cheap cheap and nasty cheapshit cheesy chintzy coffee-and crap crappo ropey stringy thready

Etymology

From Middle English ropy, from Middle English rop + -y, equivalent to rope + -y.

From Scots roupy (“husky; hoarse”), from Scots roup (“hoarseness, huskiness, any inflamed condition of the throat”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective capable of being drawn into a thread, as a glutinous substance; stringy; viscous; tenacious; glutinous; as ropy sirup; ropy lees.

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