2 syllables: clou, dy. Stress on clou.
KLOW-dee
/ˈklaʊdi/
cloudy is pronounced KLOW-dee (/ˈklaʊdi/). It has two syllables (clou-dy), with the stress on "clou". Cloudy is an adjective describing a sky or atmosphere that is covered with clouds, blocking direct sunlight or creating a dim, gray appearance. It can also metaphorically describe uncertainty or lack of clarity. In pronunciation terms, the word is typically stressed on the first syllable and features a tense vowel followed by the alveolar nasal and a high, rounded final sound.
Cloudy is an adjective describing a sky or atmosphere that is covered with clouds, blocking direct sunlight or creating a dim, gray appearance. It can also metaphorically describe uncertainty or lack of clarity. In pronunciation terms, the word is typically stressed on the first syllable and features a tense vowel followed by the alveolar nasal and a high, rounded final sound.
"The forecast says it will stay cloudy all day."
"Her explanations were cloudy, and I couldn’t tell what she meant."
"We wore sunglasses less because the sky was cloudy."
You say /ˈklaʊ.di/ with the stress on the first syllable. Start with the /k/ sound, then the diphthong /aʊ/ as in 'how,' followed by the /l/ light contact on the alveolar ridge, and end with /di/ where /d/ is a clear stop and /i/ is a short, tense vowel like in 'see.' In many dialects, the second syllable lands on a quick, clean /i/ (not a full vowel), so it sounds like /ˈklaʊ.di/. Listen to air flow around the /d/ and keep the final vowel compact.
Common errors include turning /aʊ/ into a pure /a/ or /o/ vowel, producing /ˈklaʊi/ or /ˈklaʊoʊ/; adding an extraneous schwa before the final /i/ resulting in /ˈklau-diə/; or delaying release of the /d/, making it sound slurred. Correct by emphasizing the diphthong /aʊ/ in the stressed first syllable, then releasing /d/ quickly into the short /i/. Keep the tongue low for /aʊ/ and avoid lip rounding that widens to /oʊ/. Practice minimal pairs to stabilize the /di/ ending.
In US and UK, the first syllable uses the /aʊ/ diphthong; the second syllable /di/ remains a short vowel. US rhoticity doesn’t affect /r/ since there’s no /r/ after /aʊ/. UK tends to crisper /d/ release; some regional speakers may realize /i/ slightly longer. Australian English also keeps /aʊ/ but with a shorter unstressed ending and a lighter /d/ release. The main variation is the pace and vowel length; rhotic influence is minimal here, but vowel quality and tenseness can slightly shift.
The difficulty centers on the diphthong /aʊ/ in a stressed syllable and the neat, quick transition into the /l/ and /d/ sequences, followed by a short /i/. Learners often add extra vowels or mispronounce the cluster /ld/ by delaying the /d/ or turning it into a /t/; the result becomes 'claw-dy' or 'cloudi.' Maintain a tight but natural lip rounding for /aʊ/, snap the /d/ quickly, and finish with a compact /i/.
No, cloudy has no silent letters. All letters contribute to the pronunciation: the /k/ in /kl/ starts the word, the /aʊ/ diphthong, the /l/ lateral, the /d/ stop, and the final /i/ vowel. The challenge lies in the smooth transition between the /aʊ/ diphthong, the lisp-friendly /l/ placement, and the quick release into /di/ rather than an extended vowel.
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Cloudy comes from the noun cloud, derived from Old English clūd, related to Dutch wolk and German Wolke, from Proto-Germanic *klūdaz, which is cognate with Latin caligo? Not directly. The sense of “covered with clouds” appears by Middle English as cloud(e)en, though exact earliest usage is scattered. The root word cloud refers to a visible mass in the sky and is tied to weather terminology. Over time, cloudy as an adjective extended metaphorically to describe ideas or situations that are not clear—‘clouded judgment’ or a ‘cloudy’ argument—retaining its meteorological origin but broadening to abstract domains. The evolution shows how a physical descriptor became a common figurative term in both everyday and literary usage. First known uses are medieval, aligning with period weather observations and the emergence of standardized English spelling. As English absorbed influences from Norman and later standardization, cloudy solidified its form and usage in both spoken and written discourse, maintaining its core meaning of obstruction or lack of clarity in both literal and metaphorical senses.
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Words that rhyme with "cloudy"
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