2 syllables: a, wait. Stress on wait.
/əˈweɪt/
Say it backAwait is a verb meaning to wait for something with anticipation or to remain in readiness for a future event. It implies a period of waiting, often with expectancy, and can be used in formal or literary contexts as well as everyday speech.
"We will await your response after the interview."
"She stood at the gate, awaiting the arrival of her guests."
"The committee awaits the final decision from headquarters."
Pronounce as ə-WEYT (phonemes: /əˈweɪt/). Start with a schwa sound, then a stressed long 'a' while gliding from /w/ into /eɪ/, ending with a clear /t/. Place your tongue high for the diphthong /eɪ/, keep lips relaxed, and release with a crisp /t/. You’ll want a light, clipped final consonant in fluent speech.
Common issues: misplacing stress (say /ˈeɪ/ rather than /əˈweɪt/); flattening the diphthong into a pure /e/; and inserting an extra syllable like 'a-wait' or 'aw-wait'. Correction: start with a neutral schwa, then a strong /eɪ/ glide, ending in a clean /t/. Practice saying 'a-WAIT' in one smooth syllable and avoid preceding vowel elongation.
Across US/UK/AU, /əˈweɪt/ remains consistent in vowels, but rhoticity affects surrounding intonation. In US English, you may hear a slightly reduced initial /ə/ with an unconstricted gliding to /eɪ/; UK and AU typically keep a precise schwa and strong /eɪ/ with less vowel reduction. The final /t/ is released crisply in all, but connected speech in US can sound more lenient.
The difficulty lies in the diphthong /eɪ/ after a schwa and tying it to a fast, clipped /t/ in fluent speech. The transition from a weak initial vowel to a strong long vowel can feel unstable, especially when the word appears in rapid sentences. Additionally, maintaining crisp final /t/ without aspiration or length is a subtle muscular control challenge.
A distinctive query is whether 'await' is pronounced with a light 'w' sound preceding the vowel: the answer is yes, the /w/ is part of the /w/ + /eɪ/ sequence and should not be skipped. In careful speech you’ll hear a seamless /w/ sound connecting the schwa to the /eɪ/ diphthong, so keep your lips rounded lightly for the glide before releasing into /eɪ/.
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US: briefer schwa, gliding /eɪ/ with tighter mouth opening; UK: more precise schwa, slightly longer prolongation of /ə/ before /weɪ/; AU: similar to UK but with less rhoticity and dropping some non-phonemic vowels in rapid speech. IPA references: /əˈweɪt/. Vowel quality: in US, the nucleus of /ə/ can be more central; in UK/AU, it may be a lighter schwa with subtle lip rounding. Consonants: final /t/ often unreleased in casual US speech; enunciate fully in careful speech.
Await comes from Middle English awaiten, where a- is a prefix meaning 'in/on' plus waiten, from Old English weatan or gewætan meaning to watch or watchful waiting. The form evolved through Middle English spellings awaiten and awhede to the modern form await. The semantic core centers on remaining in readiness for something to happen, often with a sense of patient expectation. In older usage, await sometimes appeared as a transitive verb taking a direct object (e.g., await him) but in contemporary English it is predominantly intransitive or followed by for a noun phrase (await a response, await the results). First attested in the late medieval period, awaiting implied both a physical staying place and a temporal patience, aligning with related verbs like expect, anticipate, and tarry in terms of tense and mood. Over time, the word solidified into a brief, neutral to slightly formal verb used across written and spoken registers, with modern usage skewing toward formal or literary contexts when used without a following object.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "await" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "await"
-ate sounds
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