One syllable: Brow.
brow
/bɹaʊ/
Brow is pronounced brow (/bɹaʊ/). It has one syllable (Brow), with the stress on "Brow". Brow is a noun referring to the ridge where the eye meets the forehead, or the eyebrow itself. It also appears in phrases like “to furrow one’s brow.” The term denotes a facial feature and can imply expression or intent. In broader contexts, brow may describe the edge or border of something in old usage, though the facial feature sense is predominant today.
nounBrow is a noun referring to the ridge where the eye meets the forehead, or the eyebrow itself. It also appears in phrases like “to furrow one’s brow.” The term denotes a facial feature and can imply expression or intent. In broader contexts, brow may describe the edge or border of something in old usage, though the facial feature sense is predominant today.
"She knitted her brow in concentration as she read the fine print."
"The hot sun made his brow sweat through his brow furrow."
"She raised an eyebrow and then followed his brow to see what he meant."
Pronounce it as /braʊ/ with a single stressed syllable. Start with /b/ as a typical bilabial plosive, glide into /r/ with a lightly tapped or approximant quality depending on accent, followed by the diphthong /aʊ/ where your jaw drops from mid to high position and your lips move from open to rounded as in ‘cow’. In US/UK/AU, the vowel quality is similar, but rhotic accents may display a more pronounced /r/ onset or linking in connected speech. Audio reference: Cambridge or Forvo entries show /braʊ/ consistently.
Two common errors: 1) Slurring /b/ into /r/ or dropping the /r/ in non-rhotic accents, which makes it sound like ‘bao’ rather than ‘brow.’ 2) Misproducing the /aʊ/ diphthong by staying too long on /a/ or rounding the lips too early, producing an /aː/ or /aʊ/ that’s too rounded. Correct by keeping the lip position neutral, transitioning quickly from /a/ to /ʊ/ within the same syllable, and ensuring the /r/ is either fully rhotic or not pronounced at all depending on the accent. Practice with minimal pairs like brow–broe and brown–brow to tune the vowel transition.
In US, /braʊ/ with a rhotic influence in careful speech, though the /r/ is not followed by a vowel in initial position. UK often displays non-rhotic tendencies; the /r/ may be silent, resulting in a clearer /braʊ/ with a shorter offglide. Australian English typically maintains a non-rhotic tendency in casual speech and a slightly raised beginning of the diphthong, but still yields /braʊ/. In all cases, the central feature is the /aʊ/ diphthong; the main variation is rhoticity and vowel quality around the final glide.
The challenge centers on the /aʊ/ diphthong and the subtle tongue-lip movement: jaw lowering toward /a/ and then rapid gliding to /ʊ/ with lip rounding. For speakers with strong syllable-timed languages or those who habitually shorten diphthongs, maintaining a clear, crisp transition is tough. In connected speech, it’s easy to merge with nearby sounds or reduce the vowel, making it sound like /broʊ/ or /bra/ depending on the context. Focus on a precise tongue height change and lip shape to sustain the correct diphthong and a clean /b/ onset.
A distinctive feature is keeping the transition crisp from /b/ to /raʊ/ without adding extra syllable or a secondary vowel. Some speakers insert a tiny schwa in rapid speech, producing /bəraʊ/ or /brəʊ/ in non-native speech. To avoid this, keep a tight, single-onset start with immediate diphthong formation: press the lips slightly to prepare /b/, place the tongue near the alveolar ridge for /r/, and then smoothly move into the /aʊ/ glide with a quick jaw drop and lip rounding.
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Brow comes from Old English brou, related to Germanic roots, with cognates in several Germanic languages. The core sense originated as a reference to the part of the face above the eye, often used to describe hair-bearing ridges, arches, or lines formed by expression. Early forms in Old English likely referenced both the hair-bearing swelling and the raised, furrowed area of the forehead in emotion or attention. Over time, the spelling consolidated to brow, solidifying as the anatomical feature around the eye and the eyebrow itself. In Middle English and Early Modern English, brow appeared in idioms and as a boundary or edge metaphor, such as “brown brow” in descriptions of landscapes or borders, though those uses faded as the facial feature sense strengthened. In contemporary usage, brow almost exclusively denotes the eyebrow region, with few remaining archaic or metaphorical applications. First known written appearance centers on medical or anatomical descriptions and common speech about facial expressions, and by the 18th–19th centuries, “brow” as a standalone noun for the eyebrow was well established in English literature and dictionaries.
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Words that rhyme with "Brow"
-row sounds
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