2 syllables: grun, ted. Stress on grun.
GRUHN-tid
/ˈɡɹʌntɪd/
grunted is pronounced GRUHN-tid (/ˈɡɹʌntɪd/). It has two syllables (grun-ted), with the stress on "grun". Grunted is the simple past tense of grunt, meaning to utter a short, low, guttural sound often expressing effort, annoyance, or displeasure. It denotes a voiced, non-syllabic vocalization typical of physical exertion or dull acknowledgement, and can function as part of narrative dialogue to convey character mood or action without clear articulation. The word carries a blunt, animal-like timbre that can foreground a scene or emotion in prose.
Grunted is the simple past tense of grunt, meaning to utter a short, low, guttural sound often expressing effort, annoyance, or displeasure. It denotes a voiced, non-syllabic vocalization typical of physical exertion or dull acknowledgement, and can function as part of narrative dialogue to convey character mood or action without clear articulation. The word carries a blunt, animal-like timbre that can foreground a scene or emotion in prose.
- Mispronouncing the initial /ɡ/ as a soft 'g' or as /dʒ/; fix by ensuring a crisp back-velar stop with a firm release before the /r/. - Slurring the /t/ or eliding the final /d/; practice a clean /t/ release before the final /ɪd/ to avoid a stale ending. - Vowel mispronunciation of the /ʌ/ as /ɜː/ or /ə/; aim for a short, lax /ʌ/ (as in 'cup').
"- He grunted in response, pushing the heavy box up the stairs."
"- The soldiers grunted and strained, finishing the climb under a scorching sun."
"- She grunted with effort as she pulled the stubborn drawer free."
Pronounce as /ˈɡrʌn.tɪd/ in standard accents. The stress sits on the first syllable: GRUNT-ed. Start with /ɡ/ (back-of-tongue stop), then /r/ (tip of tongue near the alveolar ridge), followed by /ʌ/ (short, mid-back vowel). The second syllable shows /n/ (alveolar nasal) before /t/ (alveolar plosive) and finally /ɪd/ (a light, unstressed vowel + /d/). In careful speech, clearly release the /t/; in rapid speech you may hear a lightly released or unreleased /t/.
Two common errors: 1) misplacing the /ɡ/ or pronouncing it as a /k/ or /dʒ/; ensure a hard back-velar stop with a brief release. 2) Running /ɡrʌn/ into a full /tɪd/ cluster too quickly, causing the /t/ to blend or be dropped; keep a crisp /t/ before the final /ɪd/. A third pitfall is mispronouncing the /ʌ/ as /ə/; aim for a short, lax /ʌ/ as in 'strut'.
US/UK/AU share /ˈɡrʌn.tɪd/, but differences appear in rhoticity and vowel quality. US tends to keep a stronger rhotic /ɹ/ and a slightly tenser /ʌ/ in stressed syllables; UK often features a more centralized /ʌ/ with less rhotic influence in some dialects; AU tends toward a more Germanic-scaled /ɹ/ but can be closer to US rhythm, with vowels less diphthongized in rapid speech. All maintain the /t/ release but can show subtle length differences and voicing in the final cluster.
Because it combines a front-heavy alveolar /n/ cluster around a hard /t/ in a stressed syllable with a short, lax vowel. The /ɡr/ onset requires tight back-of-tongue contact and a precise pause before the nasal, while the /tɪd/ ending can be unreleased in faster speech, changing perceived syllable weight. Mastery demands clean timing: /ˈɡrʌn/ is the nucleus, then a crisp /t/ followed by a light /ɪd/.
A distinctive property of 'grunted' is the clear contrast between the nasal /n/ in the first syllable and the alveolar /t/ in the second syllable, which can tempt learners to merge them. You’ll want to instantiate a short pause or a very brief nasal stop before the /t/ to preserve the split syllable rhythm. Focus on keeping the /ɹ/ non-syllabic and the /ɡ/ fully released to avoid a clipped onset.
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- US: emphasize rhoticity with a clear /ɹ/; keep /ʌ/ slightly tense and short. - UK: the /ɹ/ may be non-rhotic depending on dialect; ensure the onset /ɡr/ remains crisp and the /ʌ/ is not centralized. - AU: typically non-rhotic as well; maintain short, clipped vowels and a firm /t/ release; watch for t-flapping in casual speech.
Grunted comes from the verb grunt, historically imitative in origin, echoing earlier English forms of grunt (late Middle English) that referred to the sound itself rather than a specific action. The root grunt likely derives from Proto-Germanic *gruntjanan, a reduplicated or echoic term mimicking low vocalizations, with echoes in Old English grunian. Over time, the meaning broadened from the onomatopoeic sound to a verb describing the physical act of making that sound, often in exertion or disdain. By Middle English and Early Modern English, grunt began to take on the grammatical role of a regular verb with past tense grunted, keeping the same vowel structure but adding -ed as standard past-tense formation. In modern usage, grunted primarily signals volitional articulation (a brief, rough vocalization) rather than a fully articulated word, and is frequently employed in narrative prose to convey effort, fatigue, or terse reactions without dialogue. The term’s connotations have shifted slightly toward colloquial or informal registers, frequently used in action scenes or character-reaction descriptions to imply physical strain or blunt, unrefined speech. While its usage is stable in describing past actions, the sense of “sound as a result of exertion” remains central across periods.
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Words that rhyme with "grunted"
-ted sounds
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