One syllable: fears.
firz
/fɪɹz/
fears is pronounced firz (/fɪɹz/). It has one syllable (fears), with the stress on "fears". Fears is the plural noun meaning anxieties or things that cause fear. It can also be the verb form of fear in third-person singular (he fears). In everyday use, it refers to emotional states of fear or specific scary prospects, often discussed in personal, social, or political contexts. The word carries a mild to moderate emotional charge and appears in both formal and informal discourse.
Fears is the plural noun meaning anxieties or things that cause fear. It can also be the verb form of fear in third-person singular (he fears). In everyday use, it refers to emotional states of fear or specific scary prospects, often discussed in personal, social, or political contexts. The word carries a mild to moderate emotional charge and appears in both formal and informal discourse.
- Underpronouncing the /ɪ/ vowel: Keep it short but distinct; don’t reduce to a near-schwa; practice with the word in isolation and in phrases like “fears of” to maintain the /ɪ/ quality. - Dropping the final /z/: Always voice the final consonant; in rapid speech, it can become devoiced or elided if you’re thinking about the next word, so practice with phrases to ensure voicing is clear. - Misplacing stress or lengthening the vowel into /iː/: Use a quick /ɪ/ and avoid turning it into a long vowel; use minimal pairs like /fɪrz/ vs /fiːrz/ to cement the short vowel. - Common assimilation errors: When next word begins with a consonant, you might latch onto that sound and loosen the /z/. Use slow practice, then speed up to natural pace to prevent attaching to the wrong sound. - Mouth posture: Keep the top teeth lightly touching the bottom lip for /f/, relax the jaw for /ɪ/, and finish with a crisp /z/ by placing the tongue close to the alveolar ridge without too much friction. -- - Practice routine: Use short, 2-minute sessions daily to reinforce muscle memory and track progress with recordings.
"Her fears about failing the exam kept her from sleeping well."
"Many people’s fears of public speaking decreased after practice and feedback."
"The government addressed citizens’ fears by outlining a new safety plan."
Phonetically, fears is pronounced /fɪərz/ in UK English and /fɪrz/ in US English. The initial consonant is a voiceless labiodental /f/, the vowel is a short lax /ɪ/, followed by a rhotacized or z-like end /ərz/ in UK or /rz/ in US depending on the speaker’s rhotics. In practice, start with an initial /f/, relax the jaw for /ɪ/, then glide into a clear /z/ or a syllabic /ɜː/ sound before voicing the final z. A quick, natural articulation is “fih-erz,” with a light schwa-like quality in the middle for many speakers.
Two frequent mistakes: 1) Lengthening the vowel to a full /iː/ as in 'feers' — correct it by keeping the vowel short: /ɪ/. 2) Dropping the final /z/, producing /fɜːr/ or /fɜː/ — ensure voicing persists for the final sound: /z/. For non-native speakers, confusion between /ər/ and /ɜː/ in non-rhotic accents can lead to ‘fears’ sounding like /feːz/ or /feɜːz/. Practice with minimal pairs like /fɪrz/ vs /fiːrz/ and emphasize the voiced alveolar end /z/.
In American English, /fɪrz/ features a clear rhotic nucleus with a consonant cluster ending in /rz/. In many UK accents, you’ll hear /fɪəz/ or /fɪərz/, with a more centralized or
Because of the brief, reduced vowel /ɪ/, followed by a voiced alveolar fricative /z/. In rapid speech, connecting /ɪ/ to /z/ can blur the transition, causing a weak onset or a fricated /z/ instead of a crisp /z/. Non-native speakers might mispronounce as /fiːrz/ or /færz/ due to vowel or rhotic confusion. Master this by focusing on the crisp /ɪ/ and a strong, voiced /z/ release with a minimal pair drill.
The challenge comes from the short, lax vowel /ɪ/ followed by a voiced alveolar /z/ that often links to the next word in fluent speech. Stress is monosyllabic, so you must maintain a tight, quick mouth movement from /f/ to /ɪ/ to /z/. It’s common to see assimilation when followed by a consonant (e.g., ‘fears you’ might sound like /ˈfɪərˌzju/ in rapid speech). Focus on clean vowel articulation and voicing for the final consonant.
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- US: /fɪrz/ with a clear /r/ coloring in sequences; rhotic vowel influences can keep a slight curl of the tongue towards the hard palate; the /z/ is clearly voiced. - UK: /fɪəz/ or /fɪərz/ where /ə/ could be schwa-like and the /ɜː/ or /ɪə/ makes the vowel glide; avoid over-elongating the vowel in the middle; maintain quality /ɜː/ in some speakers. - AU: often closer to /fɪəz/ but with non-rhotic tendencies; the final /z/ remains voiced but the preceding vowel might be slightly centralized; keep the mouth relaxed and the tongue slightly elevated. - Reference IPA: US /fɪrz/, UK /fɪəz/ or /fɪərz/, AU /fɪəz/; practice with minimal pairs to highlight vowel shift and rhoticity differences.
Fears derives from the Old English word farian, meaning to be afraid, with the noun form efers evolving through Middle English as fere or feare, associated with fear, danger, and menace. Its roots trace to Proto-Germanic *fairo-/*faur- implying danger, and related to Old English form ‘ear’ for peril or danger. By the 13th century, fear as a standalone noun had solidified to denote a feeling of alarm, while fears as a plural began appearing in English texts to describe multiple instances of fear or the broader concept of anxiety. The verb form fear (to be afraid of) emerges from the same lineage, with inflections—fears, fearing, feared—developing in line with standard English conjugation patterns. Across centuries, the semantic scope widened from tangible dangers to abstract worries and phobias, making “fears” a versatile term in psychology, politics, art, and everyday speech. In modern usage, fears often collocate with adjectives and nouns like “deep,” “irrational,” “fears about,” and “facing one’s fears,” illustrating a shift from concrete danger to internal, subjective experience.
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Words that rhyme with "fears"
-ars sounds
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