One syllable: glee.
glee
/ɡli/
glee is pronounced glee (/ɡli/). It has one syllable (glee), with the stress on "glee". Glee refers to open, exuberant joy or delight, often expressed with a bright smile, upbeat laughter, and spirited singing or cheering. It implies a spontaneous, buoyant happiness that can brighten an occasion. In usage, it characterizes a mood or reaction that is gleefully uncontrolled or unrestrained, rather than a subdued contentment.
Glee refers to open, exuberant joy or delight, often expressed with a bright smile, upbeat laughter, and spirited singing or cheering. It implies a spontaneous, buoyant happiness that can brighten an occasion. In usage, it characterizes a mood or reaction that is gleefully uncontrolled or unrestrained, rather than a subdued contentment.
"Her face lit up with glee when she saw the surprise party."
"The crowd burst into glee as the final goal went in."
"He spoke with childlike glee about his latest discovery."
You pronounce it as /ɡliː/. Start with a hard g as in 'go,' then a long 'ee' vowel like in 'see.' The tongue stays high and the lips are relaxed; the /l/ is light and the vowel is lengthened, so you’ll hear a steady /iː/ sound. Think of saying one syllable, with a smooth transition from the /g/ to the /l/ to the /iː/.
Common errors include shortening the vowel too much (sounding like /ɡli/ with a clipped /i/), misplacing the /l/ after a strong stop (delayed or nasalized /l/), or adding an extra consonant sheen (sounding like /ɡliːɡ/). To correct, ensure the /iː/ is long and the /l/ is light and immediate after the /g/. Relax the jaw for a clear, unobstructed glide into the vowel. Practice with a steady airflow and trust the long vowel to carry the word.
In US/UK/AU, the pronunciation is essentially /ɡliː/ with rhoticity not affecting the word since it ends in a long vowel. All three share the same initial /ɡ/ and final /liː/. Differences emerge in surrounding speech patterns: US tends to have a tighter, tenser /iː/ in some dialects; UK may feature slightly more centralized tongue position; AU pronunciation remains close to General Australian with a clear /iː/ vowel and non-rhotic smoothing of surrounding syllables. Overall, the core vowel is stable across accents.
The challenge lies in the single, long /iː/ vowel following a quick, light /l/ after a sharp /g/. Beginners often overthink the glottal stop or soften the /l/, which disrupts the clean CV transition. The consonant cluster is simple, but the key is maintaining a steady airflow to sustain the long vowel without collapsing into a shorter /i/ or adding an extra consonant. Focusing on a crisp onset and a relaxed jaw helps stabilize the syllable.
No. In glee, the initial /g/ is a fully voiced velar stop and should be clearly heard. There’s no silent letter territory here, unlike some words with silent letters. The main challenge is ensuring the /g/ closes cleanly before the /l/—avoid letting the onset smear into the following consonant or vowel. A crisp, audible /g/ anchors the word.
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Glee entered English in the 16th century from Middle English gle—used in phrases like glee-dede, meaning merrymaking or festive music. Its roots trace to Old Norse gle, meaning entertainment or joyous mirth, and to the related Old English glēow, implying gleeful noise. Over time, the sense narrowed to describe a state of joy or revelry rather than the act itself, eventually tying to expressions of exuberant happiness rather than musical or communal festivity alone. The modern sense emphasizes spontaneous, buoyant happiness rather than any formal celebration, and the word is frequently found in both literary and colloquial contexts. First known uses appear in Middle English moral and celebratory texts, with broader adoption in early Modern English as printing and publishing expanded the vocabulary for emotional expression. Today, glee is common in everyday speech as a compact noun representing a specific emotional state, and it often collocates with phrases like “glee of” or “glee club” historically, though in contemporary English it frequently stands alone as a mood descriptor. The evolution reflects a shift from a broader concept of festivity to a precise emotional valence of unrestrained joy, often associated with expressions of celebratory or infectious happiness.
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Words that rhyme with "glee"
-ree sounds
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