3 syllables: a, do, be. Stress on do.
uh-DOH-bee
/əˈdoʊbi/
adobe is pronounced uh-DOH-bee (/əˈdoʊbi/). It has three syllables (a-do-be), with the stress on "do". Adobe is a noun referring to a sun-dried brick made of earth, straw, and water, traditionally used in arid climates for building. It also denotes the software company known for creative design tools. In both senses, the term conveys a rustic, earth-toned material or brand associated with creative technology. The word is short, with primary stress on the first syllable.
Adobe is a noun referring to a sun-dried brick made of earth, straw, and water, traditionally used in arid climates for building. It also denotes the software company known for creative design tools. In both senses, the term conveys a rustic, earth-toned material or brand associated with creative technology. The word is short, with primary stress on the first syllable.
- You might insert an extra vowel between /æ/ and /doʊ/ (saying /æ.əˈdoʊ.bi/). Correction: end the first syllable with a clean /æ/ and immediately move into /doʊ/ without a schwa. - Mispronouncing the second syllable as /dæ/ or /dəʊ/—keep it /doʊ/ with a smooth glide. - Overemphasizing the final /i/ or making it /biː/; keep the final vowel short and quick: /ˈæ.doʊ.bi/.
"The village houses were built from sun-dried adobe bricks."
"She uses Adobe Photoshop to edit the photograph."
"The museum features adobe walls that have stood for centuries."
You say /ˈæ.doʊ.bi/. The first syllable is stressed, like 'A-DOH-bee' with a long O in the second syllable. Your mouth starts open for the /æ/, then relaxes into /oʊ/ for the middle vowel, ending with /bi/ where the /b/ is light, and the /i/ is a short, close front vowel. Listen for that crisp second syllable.
Common errors include misplacing the stress (saying /ˈæ.dəʊ.bi/ with weak middle vowel) and turning the second syllable into /aʊ/ or /oʊ/ with an off-glide. Another frequent error is pronouncing /ˈæ.dɵː.bi/ with an overly long middle vowel. Correction: keep the middle as /oʊ/ and stress the first syllable, producing /ˈæ.doʊ.bi/ with clear, short /b/ onset and final /i/.
In US and UK, the pattern remains stressed on the first syllable /ˈæ.doʊ.bi/. UK speakers may reduce the middle vowel slightly and maintain /oʊ/; Australians often preserve /ˈæ.dəʊ.bi/ with a slightly more centralized middle vowel. The rhoticity isn’t a major factor here since the word doesn’t require an /r/. The main variance is in vowel quality and the exact duration of /oʊ/ and the final /i/.
Because it combines a stressed first syllable with a mid-to-high back vowel in the second syllable and a final light /bi/ that can blur into /biː/ or /bi/. The /oʊ/ diphthong also challenges non-native speakers, and many languages don’t have a clean /oʊ/ sequence. Practice by isolating each phoneme, then blending while keeping the tongue high for /oʊ/ and a crisp /b/.
A key feature is the smooth /doʊ/ sequence where the tongue glides from /d/ into the /oʊ/ vowel. Maintain a light, almost stop-like /d/ release before the diphthong, and avoid inserting extra schwas. The final /bi/ should be quick and clean, with the lips slightly rounded for /oʊ/ and then unrounded into /i/.
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- US: emphasize rhoticity minimally; focus on clear /oʊ/ and crisp /b/; /æ/ as **short a** but bright. - UK: maintain non-rhotic tendency; middle vowel may be slightly reduced to /əʊ/ in rapid speech; ensure final /i/ is light. - AU: similar to UK but with more centralized vowels; keep /oʊ/ quality with a slight rake toward /əʊ/; keep final /i/ compact. IPA references are included above.
Adobe derives from the Spanish word adobe, which historically referred to sun-dried bricks made from earth and straw. The term ultimately traces back to the Arabic al-tubb, meaning ‘brick’ or ‘clod,’ via a lineage of Mediterranean and Iberian languages. In many languages, the root concept centers on earth or clay. In English, adobe entered common use to describe clay bricks in the American Southwest and other arid regions, particularly in colonial and indigenous contexts. With the advent of the computer era, the same spelling became a modern corporate name, though the original material sense remains intact in geographic and architectural discourse. First known use in English records is attested in the 18th or 19th century, especially in American southwestern communities where adobe houses dominated vernacular architecture. The word’s semantic field broadened in the late 20th century to include the software company, which adopted the name to evoke creativity and structural design in a metaphorical sense. The dual usage today—historic material and contemporary software—creates a strong cross-domain recognition that can require context for disambiguation. The phonetic rendering has remained stable across dialects, with the primary stress on the first syllable.
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Words that rhyme with "adobe"
-obe sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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