2 syllables: ap, pealed. Stress on pealed.
uh-PEELD
/əˈpild/
appealed is pronounced uh-PEELD (/əˈpild/). It has two syllables (ap-pealed), with the stress on "pealed". Appealed is the past tense and past participle of appeal: to make a serious or formal request, typically to a higher authority, or to attract or evoke a sincere response. In pronunciation, the word ends with a light, unstressed -ed suffix after a long A vowel (appeal) with the typical /d/ realization when the base form ends with a voiced consonant cluster in many dialects.
Appealed is the past tense and past participle of appeal: to make a serious or formal request, typically to a higher authority, or to attract or evoke a sincere response. In pronunciation, the word ends with a light, unstressed -ed suffix after a long A vowel (appeal) with the typical /d/ realization when the base form ends with a voiced consonant cluster in many dialects.
"The plaintiff appealed the decision to the supreme court."
"Her charity appeal appealed to people’s sense of compassion."
"The company appealed for donations after the disaster."
Pronounce as ə-PEELD, with primary stress on the second syllable: /əˈpiːld/. Start with a neutral schwa in the first syllable, then a long ee vowel for “peal,” and finish with a crisp /d/. The final /d/ is often lightly released in faster speech. Mouth: relax the jaw for /ə/, raise the mid-to-high tongue for /iː/, and end with a light tongue-tip contact for /d/. Audio reference: imagine hearing “a peel + d” quickly in sequence.
Common mistakes: (1) Treating it as /æˈpɛld/ by using a short a and the wrong vowel in the second syllable; fix by using /əˈpiːld/ with a long /iː/. (2) Dropping the /l/ or misplacing the /l/ in the cluster before /d/, so you get /ˈaːpɛd/; ensure the /l/ is clearly present: /-piːld/. (3) Overemphasizing the final /d/ in rapid speech, making it sound like /ˈpiːld/ rather than /piːld/ with a light /d/. Practice a crisp but not forceful /d/.
US/UK/AU share /əˈpiːld/ but with subtle differences: US tends to maintain a tighter /iː/ and crisper final /d/, UK may slightly shorten the pre-stress vowel and keep broader /l/ coloration, and AU often features a more centralized post-vowel vowel quality and a slightly flapped or softer /d/ in rapid speech. The rhotics vary: US rhotic /ɹ/ is not present in this word, but flapped linking can occur across words in American speech.
The difficulty lies in the two-part structure with a stress shift into the second syllable and the tricky /piːl/ sequence: /əˈpiːld/. The primary challenge is articulating a long high front vowel /iː/ directly before the alveolar /l/ plus the final /d/ without intrusive vowels or alveolar deformation. For non-native speakers, keeping the vowel long and not reducing it in connected speech is essential.
A unique point is the borderline between /piːl/ and /ld/; some speakers may manifest a slight palatalization or lengthening of the /l/ before /d/ in careful speech, yielding a subtle /liːld/ percept. In fast, natural speech, you may hear a quicker /liːld/ with a lighter /l/ and crisper /d/; focus on maintaining the /iː/ before the /l/ and a clean /ld/ release.
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US: /əˈpiːld/ with prominent /iː/, /ld/ cluster crisp; speak with a slightly stronger r-coloring on surrounding words. UK: /əˈpiːld/ with less rhotic influence on surrounding vowels; keep the /l/ clear, and the /d/ unaspirated in careful speech. AU: /əˈpiːld/ with a flatter vowel quality; the /l/ can be slightly darker; final /d/ may be softer in rapid speech; maintain the long /iː/ and link with following words carefully.
Appealed comes from the verb appeal, itself from the Old French appealier, later French appeal, and ultimately Latin appellare (ad- + appellare), meaning to name or call upon. The Latin root ap- means toward, toward + pellere meaning to drive or push, giving the sense of ‘to call toward’ or ‘to call upon for aid.’ In Middle English, appeal began as a legal or formal call to higher authority (to summon), then broadened to general meaning of making an earnest request or soliciting support. The noun form appeal developed concurrently. The modern sense of asking for reconsideration in law and for public sympathy or support emerged in the 16th–18th centuries as legal systems formalized procedures and rhetorical persuasion grew, with -ed forms indicating past action or completed states. First known uses appear in late medieval to early modern texts referencing legal appeals and petitions; by the 17th–18th centuries, the term expanded into broader public discourse about appealing to audiences and appeals for aid. The pronunciation stabilized around /əˈpiːld/ in many dialects, though some prefer /ˈæpiːld/ in older or more conservative registers. The enunciation of the final /d/ is often linked to the preceding voiced consonant cluster and syllable weight in different dialects.
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Words that rhyme with "appealed"
-led sounds
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