3 syllables: Col, li, sion. Stress on li.
kuh-LIZH-uhn
/kəˈlɪʒən/
Collision is pronounced kuh-LIZH-uhn (/kəˈlɪʒən/). It has three syllables (Col-li-sion), with the stress on "li". Collision is a noun referring to a violent coming together of two or more objects, or a clash of ideas or events. It denotes a forceful impact or crash, often implying damage or disruption. The term is commonly used in science, safety, and everyday descriptions of accidents or conflicts.
nounCollision is a noun referring to a violent coming together of two or more objects, or a clash of ideas or events. It denotes a forceful impact or crash, often implying damage or disruption. The term is commonly used in science, safety, and everyday descriptions of accidents or conflicts.
How to Pronounce Collision
"A car collision blocked the highway for hours."
"The two teams agreed to a collision of styles, creating an exciting game."
"The meteor crater is the result of a massive celestial collision."
/kəˈlɪʒən/ in US and UK. The word has three syllables with primary stress on the second: ki-LIH-zhn. Start with a schwa in the first syllable, then a short 'l' + 'i' as in 'lip,' followed by the 'zh' sound like in 'measure,' and end with a light 'ən'.
Many speakers misplace the stress or substitute the ‘zh’ (/ʒ/) with /ʃ/ or /dʒ/, saying ko-LISH-ən or ko-LIL-yon. Another mistake is reducing the second syllable too much, making it ‘LI’ or ‘lizh-ən.’ Focus on preserving the /ˈlɪʒ/ cluster and ensuring a clear /ʒ/ sound. Practice with phrases to lock the rhythm: collision course, collision avoidance.
In General American, it’s /kəˈlɪʒən/ with a rhotic, and the /ə/ in the first syllable is unstressed. UK speakers may slightly reduce the first vowel and maintain /ˈlɪʒən/, sometimes with a crisper /tʃ/ sound if misheard. Australian English follows /kəˈlɪʒən/ but with more vowel purity and less rhoticity in some speakers, yet still not fully non-rhotic. The core /ˈlɪʒ/ remains consistent across regions.
The challenge centers on the crowded consonant cluster at the end of the first syllable and the /ʒ/ sound, which is less common in many languages. The sequence /-lɪʒ-/ requires precise placement of the tongue for the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ and a quick transition into the unstressed final syllable /ən/. Misplacing the stress or softening the /ʒ/ leads to mispronunciations like /kəˈlɪsən/ or /kəˈljón/.
In connected speech, you’ll often hear a slight linking between the /n/ in /-zən/ and the following word, especially if the next word begins with a vowel. The stress remains on the second syllable, and in rapid speech you may perceive a reduced /ə/ in the first syllable. The key feature that differentiates it from similar words is the /ʒ/ sound: collision vs. collusion (note the final /ən/ and the /ʒ/ vs /uː/).
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- US: rhotic /ɹ/ in /kəˈlɪʒən/; keep the /ɪ/ short, and ensure /ʒ/ is voiced and clear. - UK: non-rhotic variant may reduce the /ɹ/ in some speakers, keep the /ˈlɪʒən/ intact, ensure /ə/ is unstressed. - AU: tends toward /kəˈlɪʒən/ with vowel clarity; watch psuedo- rhoticity in some speakers, but often similar to US. - General tips: practice with IPA transcriptions, mouth positions, and keep the voice relaxed; use minimal pairs to sharpen contrasts with similar words like collision vs collusion.
Collision comes from the Latin collisio, from col-, ‘together’ + -līre, ‘to strike,’ with the root collis- meaning ‘to strike together.’ The English adoption passed through Old French collision before entering Middle English in the 14th–15th centuries. The sense shift from a physical impact to more abstract clashes (ideological or metaphorical) emerged as the word broadened beyond mechanic collisions. Over time, collision retained its core sense of forceful contact while expanding to describe collisions of ideas, opinions, or forces in conflict. The pronunciation settled into /kəˈlɪʒən/ in most dialects, with regional stress patterns being stable across generations. The first known usages appear in scientific and legal texts acknowledging impacts or clashes, and later in everyday language as modern technology and social discourse amplified references to collisions in both literal and figurative forms.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Collision" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Collision" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Collision"
-ion sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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