One syllable: crime.
/ˈkraɪm/
Say it backCrime refers to an act or omission that violates a law and is punishable by the state. It encompasses offenses ranging from minor infractions to serious felonies. The term can also denote illegal activity in a general sense or the overall crime problem within a society.
"The city has seen a drop in crime since the new neighborhood watch program began."
"Committing a crime carries the risk of imprisonment and a criminal record."
"Media reports often scrutinize the socioeconomic factors that contribute to crime."
Crime is pronounced with a single stressed syllable: /kraɪm/. Start with a rounded /k/ release, glide into the /r/ with a slightly bunched tongue, then a tense /aɪ/ diphthong, and finish with a clear /m/. Your mouth should start closed, open into a wide mouth opening for the /aɪ/, then close smoothly into the bilabial /m/ at the end. -IPA: /kraɪm/.
Common errors include: misproducing the /k/ as a soft /g/ or /t/, and mis-articulating the /ɪ/ part of the /aɪ/ diphthong by turning it into a pure /iː/ or a short vowel. Another error is adding a vowel after the /m/ (somtimes heard as 'crim-uh'). The corrective cues: ensure a hard velar /k/ release, form the /aɪ/ across the front of the mouth (start with /æ/ space but quickly glide to /ɪ/), and finish firmly with /m/ without vocalic leakage.
In US/UK/AU, the nucleus vowel stays the same: /aɪ/. The main difference is likely to be rhoticity: US tends to be rhotic but not affecting /kraɪm/ much, UK is non-rhotic overall, but /aɪ/ quality remains similar. Australian tends toward a centralized nucleus in some speakers, but /kraɪm/ stays recognizable as 'crime' with a slightly more rounded lip rounding and a longer vowel duration in certain dialects. Overall, /kraɪm/ is robust across these variants.
The difficulty centers on the /aɪ/ diphthong’s precise contour and the final /m/ closure. Some learners underarticulate the glide, producing something closer to /krim/ with a shortened vowel, while others over-elongate the /aɪ/ or insert a schwa. Practice the glide from open mouth to high tongue position while keeping lip spread slightly, then a clean bilabial /m/ closure with nasal release. IPA cues: /kraɪm/ and a crisp stop.
A useful search angle is 'crime pronunciation IPA' focusing on the single-syllable, consonant-vowel-consonant structure. You’ll find notes about ensuring the /k/ is a voiceless stop and that the /r/ is pronounced with the right amount of alveolar posturing in non-rhotic contexts. Paying attention to the duration of the /ɪ/ or /aɪ/ portion and the lack of final vowel sound helps avoid creating an extra syllable.
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The word crime comes from the Old French crime, from Latin crimen, meaning ‘decision, fault, accusation.’ The Latin crimen carried the sense of fault or charge in a legal context, evolving into the Norman French usage as a formal accusation or offense. In English, crime originally referred to a guilt, offense, or accusation in a legal sense and later broadened to denote any act that violates the law or the moral code of a society. By Middle English, crime began to be used more specifically in a juridical sense, aligning with the emergence of common-law systems in which offenses were categorized and prosecuted. Over time, crime also acquired figurative uses, such as “a crime against humanity,” expanding beyond individual acts to collective wrongs. In contemporary usage, crime spans a spectrum from misdemeanors to felonies, and the term is frequently paired with adjectives to indicate severity (serious crime, petty crime) or context (white-collar crime, crime statistics). The word’s semantic field thus sits at the intersection of legality, morality, and social policy, reflecting evolving notions of wrongdoing and accountability.
💡 Etymology tip: Understanding word origins can help you remember pronunciation patterns and recognize related words in the same language family.
Help others use "crime" correctly by contributing grammar tips, common mistakes, and context guidance.
💡 These words have similar meanings to "crime" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "crime" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "crime"
-ime sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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