One syllable: dips.
/ˈdɪps/
Say it backDips is the plural or present tense form of the verb dip, meaning to insert briefly into a liquid or to decline briefly in amount or level. As a noun, it can refer to a short downward movement or a snack served with a sauce. The word is monosyllabic, light in stress, and often appears in everyday speech and culinary or physical contexts.
"She dips the fruit into chocolate for dessert."
"The stock prices dips slightly after the announcement, then recovers."
"He dips his head in apology before answering."
Pronounce it as /dɪps/. The initial consonant is a voiced alveolar stop /d/ followed by the short lax vowel /ɪ/ as in 'sit,' then the voiceless labiodental fricative /p/ released with a quick stop, and finally the voiceless sibilant /s/. Stress is on the single syllable, with a short, clean end. In connected speech, you may hear a slight puff after /p/ before /s/ in rapid delivery. For audio reference, search for 'dips pronunciation' on dictionary sites or Forvo and listen for a crisp final /ps/ cluster.
Two common errors are substituting /d/ with a softer, flapped /ɾ/ (like 'deeps') and turning the final /ps/ into a simple /s/ or /z/ sound. Another frequent mistake is prolonging the /ɪ/ to sound like /iː/ as in 'deep.' Correct these by keeping the /d/ as a clean onset, releasing the /p/ quickly into /s/ without vocalizing the vowel into an /iː/ length, and finishing with a sharp /s/. Practice with minimal pairs: dips vs deeps; dips vs deeps (note the voicing difference on the initial consonant).
In US English, /dɪps/ has a short, lax /ɪ/ and a crisp /ps/ end. UK English tends to be similarly /dɪps/ but with slightly shorter vowel duration and less rhotic influence, while Australian English may exhibit a less intense vowel reduction and a lightly dipped /ɪ/ with a quicker /p/ release. In all accents, the final /ps/ cluster remains intact, but the vowel quality and the aspiration of the /p/ can vary. Listen for a sharper, shorter vowel in UK/AU compared to a slightly tenser vowel in some US varieties.
The difficulty lies in the final /ps/ consonant cluster, which requires a rapid, unreleased /p/ release directly into /s/. Some speakers insert a vowel or voice the /p/ before /s/, creating /dɪpəs/ or /dɪpsɪz/. Also, the short /ɪ/ vowel can be mispronounced as /iː/ or reduced too much. Focus on a quick, clean /p/ closure followed immediately by the /s/ with steady air for a crisp ending. Practicing with minimal pairs like /dɪps/ vs /dɪps/ (voiceless vs voiced variations in nearby words) helps stabilize the sound.
The pronunciation remains identical in noun and verb forms; the only difference is stress and function in sentence. Both share /dɪps/ as a single syllable with the same phonemes. The challenge is not lexical stress but maintaining a precise final /ps/ cluster in fast speech and ensuring the plural s doesn’t lengthen the vowel. In rapid dialogue, you’ll hear crisper final /s/ when pluralization is used in neutral or emphatic contexts.
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Dips comes from the verb dip, which traces back to Middle English depen, dippen, from Old English dyppan, akin to Dutch dop and German tupfen. The root meaning has consistently involved submersion or a quick downward motion. The plural noun or third-person singular present tense form dips maintained this sense by describing multiple instances of dipping or a small, downward movements. The word appears in English texts by the late medieval period, but its common culinary and physical senses expanded in Early Modern English with the rise of dipping sauces and quick, short movements in sports and dance. The evolution reflects a shift from a concrete action to a general descriptor of short, downward movements, with metaphorical uses emerging in modern contexts like data dips or dips in stock prices. First known uses appear in glossaries and cookery texts that describe dipping foods, with more frequent usage in newspapers and sport commentary as shorthand for brief downward movements or declines. Overall, dips retains a crisp, action-oriented sense across domains, whether describing a literal immersion or a metaphorical decline.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "dips" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "dips"
-ips sounds
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