2 syllables: dan, ger. Stress on dan.
DAYN-jur
/ˈdeɪndʒɚ/
danger is pronounced DAYN-jur (/ˈdeɪndʒɚ/). It has two syllables (dan-ger), with the stress on "dan". Danger refers to the prospect of harm or the presence of threat. It denotes a condition or situation that could result in injury or loss, often requiring caution or action to avoid negative outcomes. The term can function as a noun or, less commonly, as a verb in contemporary usage, and it carries strong connotations of risk and potential peril.
Danger refers to the prospect of harm or the presence of threat. It denotes a condition or situation that could result in injury or loss, often requiring caution or action to avoid negative outcomes. The term can function as a noun or, less commonly, as a verb in contemporary usage, and it carries strong connotations of risk and potential peril.
"The hurricane poses significant danger to coastal communities."
"He ignored the warning signs and walked into clear danger."
"The guardrail failed, creating danger for drivers."
You pronounce danger as /ˈdeɪn.dʒər/ (US) or /ˈdeɪn.dʒə/ (UK/AU). Start with the stressed first syllable where the vowel is a long A sound, like “day.” The second syllable begins with the voiced palatal nasal plus a rhotacized schwa in rhotic dialects. Tip: keep the tongue high for /eɪ/ then release into /ndʒ/ cluster, then a soft /ər/ or /ə/ depending on accent. Practice saying ‘day’ + ‘n’ + ‘jer’ quickly but clearly toward the end.”,
Two common errors are flattening the diphthong /eɪ/ into a pure /e/ and misarticulating the /ndʒ/ cluster as /n/ + /ʒ/ without the yoking glide. Another frequent misstep is misplacing the rhotic ending so it sounds like /deɪndʒə/ in non-rhotic speakers. Correct by sustaining the /eɪ/ from /d/ into /n/ and bending the /dʒ/ into a single affricate, then finishing with a clear rhotic or schwa, depending on your accent.”,
In US English, the final syllable often ends with a pronounced /ər/ (rhotic), yielding /ˈdeɪn.dʒər/. UK English tends to a non-rhotic /ˈdeɪn.dʒə/ with a lighter final vowel. Australian English bridges both, frequently rhotic but with a more centralized or schwa-like ending in quick speech, /ˈdeɪn.dʒə/. The initial /deɪn/ stays consistent, but the final vowel quality and rhotics differentiate the variants.”,
The difficulty lies in smoothly articulating the /ndʒ/ cluster between two consonants and preserving the diphthong /eɪ/ without letting it drift into a longer vowel. Many speakers also misplace the tongue for /dʒ/ and produce a hard /ʒ/ or separate the stages too much. Focus on bridging the /n/ and /dʒ/ with a light jaw rise and a quick release into /ər/ or /ə/.
Danger uniquely combines a crisp, emphasized first syllable with an immediately following palatal affricate /ndʒ/ and a rhotic or schwa ending depending on dialect. The challenge is maintaining the tight /ndʒ/ transition and not letting the second syllable degrade into an indistinct, vowel-only sound. Consistent practice with the diphthong and the /ndʒ/ sequence will yield clarity across accents.
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Danger comes from the Middle English danger, borrowed from Old French dangier or dangier, ultimately from the Latin danger ‘powerful or dangerous thing,’ from the verb ‘to be able to do harm’ (dangere). The earliest English use appears in the 13th century in the sense of peril or threat, evolving from a more general word for power or capability to inflict harm. The word’s semantic path aligns with other Romance loanwords tied to risk and exposure (e.g., hazard es). Over time, danger broadened to cover not only physical threats but also figurative perils (economic danger, social danger), while legal and literary contexts popularized phrases like “in danger” and “danger zone.” The pronunciation settled as /ˈdeɪn.dʒər/ in General American and /ˈdeɪn.dʒə/ or /ˈdeɪn.dʒə/ in some UK varieties, with final r-coloring more prominent in rhotic accents. First known use attested in Middle English texts around the 14th century; by the late 16th century, danger appeared in the sense of “risk, peril” commonly used in prosaic and rhetorical forms that survive in modern usage. The concept’s cross-linguistic cognates reflect shared Proto-Indo-European roots related to power and threat, but English-specific spelling and pronunciation were consolidated during the Early Modern period.
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Words that rhyme with "danger"
-ger sounds
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