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

ninja

/ˈnɪnd͡ʒə/ noun, adjective, verb

Forms ninjas ninjaing ninjaed ninja'd

  1. noun (historical, martial arts) One trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period. “He used to work in the Japanese agency as a ninja.”
  2. noun (figurative) One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.
  3. noun (video games, fandom slang, in the plural) A notional draconian arm of a corporation (originally Nintendo), tasked with dealing with individuals that infringe on its rights or do not comply with its regulations.
  4. noun (computing, informal, dated) A programmer or tech worker, particularly one skilled in a particular programming language or environment; used especially in job adverts.
  5. noun (figurative) One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way.
  6. noun (historical, slang) An amateur private miner in Mongolia.
  7. noun (euphemistic, African-American Vernacular) Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address.
  8. noun (Juggalo slang) Synonym of man; used as a friendly term of address. “What up, my ninja!”
  9. adjective (informal) Fast and sneaky.
  10. verb (ambitransitive) To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.
  11. verb (Internet slang) to beat someone to a post; to make the same reply just before the other party finishes typing, making their response redundant. “When I hit post, I saw that Blue Emu had ninja'd me, so I just deleted my reply.”
  12. verb (online gaming slang) To claim an item through abuse of game mechanics. “That damn warrior ninja'd an epic-quality wand even though he can't even use it!”
  13. noun An anti-government Bakongo rebel, active in Pool Department, Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville).

Synonyms

assassin shinobi spy killer superspy magician secret agent nigga used as a friendly term of address man nigger

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 忍者 (ninja), of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person. Popularized in Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by the 1980 novel The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja
Noun sense 3.1 (“Mongolian miner”) arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the main characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga.

From ninja.

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