2 syllables: de, layed. Stress on layed.
dil-AYD
/dɪˈleɪd/
delayed is pronounced dil-AYD (/dɪˈleɪd/). It has two syllables (de-layed), with the stress on "layed". Delayed is an adjective or verb form indicating that something has been or will be postponed beyond its planned time. It often conveys a temporary postponement with a sense of hindrance or lag. In everyday use, it can describe events, responses, or processes that arrive later than expected, sometimes carrying a neutral or slightly negative connotation.
Delayed is an adjective or verb form indicating that something has been or will be postponed beyond its planned time. It often conveys a temporary postponement with a sense of hindrance or lag. In everyday use, it can describe events, responses, or processes that arrive later than expected, sometimes carrying a neutral or slightly negative connotation.
- You might under-pitch the /eɪ/ diphthong, making it sound like /e/; fix by using a clear glide from /e/ to /ɪ/ within /eɪ/. - Final /d/ can become a weak alveolar stop or be dropped in rapid speech; ensure you release with a clean alveolar stop. - The /l/ can be too light or too dark, causing a blurred transition between /dɪ/ and /leɪd/; aim for a controlled alveolar lateral with clear timing before /eɪ/.
"The flight was delayed by two hours due to bad weather."
"Her response was delayed while she checked the data."
"A delayed reaction can be a sign of careful consideration."
Pronounce as di-LAYD with primary stress on the second syllable: /dɪˈleɪd/. The first syllable is a short /dɪ/ and the second carries the long vowel /eɪ/ followed by a voiced /d/. In careful speech, you’ll clearly articulate the final /d/. In fast speech, you may hear a slight reduction of the /ɪ/ before /ˈleɪd/ but still maintain the /ˈleɪ/ nucleus. Use a crisp stop for the final /d/. IPA: US/UK/AU /dɪˈleɪd/.
Common mistakes: 1) Slurring the /d/ at the end or turning it into a stop-less ending, 2) Misplacing the primary stress as de-LAYed instead of di-LAYed, 3) Mispronouncing the /eɪ/ as a short /e/ or /ɛ/; correction: keep the nucleus as /eɪ/ (long A) and stress the second syllable. Also avoid merging the /l/ into a lisp-like sound; articulate the liquid clearly before the diphthong /eɪ/. Practicing with minimal pairs like layed vs laid helps solidify the difference.
US: /dɪˈleɪd/ with rhotic /r/ absence in the vowel nucleus, clear /ɪ/ in the first syllable. UK: /dɪˈleɪd/ similarly, but may have sharper vowel quality and non-rhoticity; sometimes a sometimes more rounded /eɪ/. AU: /dɪˈleɪd/ with more relaxed vowels; can show slightly wider vowel space and a more fronted /ɪ/. Across accents, the primary stress remains on the second syllable; the ending /d/ is same. Ensure the diphthong /eɪ/ stays as a smooth glide rather than a monophthongized vowel.
It challenges you to sustain the diphthong /eɪ/ while transitioning from the front /dɪ/ into the alveolar /l/ and the final /d/. The mouth must shift from a lax /ɪ/ to a bright /eɪ/, keeping the /l/ as a clear liquid without vocalized extra vowels between segments. Additionally, the final /d/ needs to be crisp after the preceding consonant cluster, which can tempt you to alveolarize or soften. Focus on precise tongue position for /d/ and /l/ and a clean /eɪ/ glide.
In delayed, the letters 'ea' create the long A sound /eɪ/ rather than the /iː/ or /ɛə/ that sometimes occur with ‘ea’ in other words. The digraph functions as a single vowel nucleus in the stressed syllable. Focus on the crisp /eɪ/ diphthong: start with a mid-front position and glide to a higher tongue position, finishing with a clean /d/. This is a standard pattern for English long A in stressed syllables.
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- US: emphasize rhoticity lightly, ensure /ɪ/ is shorter than /eɪ/, keep /l/ light but precise. - UK: keep a slightly crisper onset to /dɪ/ and a more clipped /d/ finale; /eɪ/ may have a stronger fronting. - AU: more relaxed vowel quality; maintain the diphthong /eɪ/ with a smooth glide, avoid overly centralized vowels. Use IPA as reference and practice with minimal pairs: /dɪ/ vs /də/ for initial syllable; /leɪd/.”,
The word delayed comes from the verb delay, which traces to the Middle French delayer (to defer or postpone) from de- (a prefix meaning ‘remove, undo, reverse’) and later from layen/lais (to lay, place). The English form dates from the late 14th century as delai(e) in Old French, with the sense “to make late, cause to be late.” In English, delay broadened from “to keep back” or “to hinder” to include postponement of actions, events, or movements. The noun form delay has been common since Middle English. The modern sense of delaying something due to weather, logistics, or planning emerged with the expansion of global transport and bureaucratic processes in the 19th and 20th centuries. First known uses appear in literature and official records where schedules and deadlines were central, reinforcing the linguistic shift toward signaling postponement or holdups in time. Through centuries, delay retained a strong implication of hindrance or obstruction, often paired with reasons or consequences in both everyday and formal discourse.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "delayed" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "delayed"
-ded sounds
-yed sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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