2 syllables: ki, los. Stress on ki.
/ˈkiˌloʊz/
Say it backKilos is the plural form of kilo, meaning kilograms—the unit of mass equal to 1,000 grams. In everyday usage, kilos often appears in measurements or discussions of weight, especially in contexts like groceries, fitness, or science. The word is widely used in English-speaking countries and shortens the term “kilograms” for convenience.
- You Might: Slur the final /z/ into a nasal or voiceless s, sounding like -s. Action: Voice the final z clearly; keep lips slightly spread, teeth together, and let the vocal cords vibrate. - You Might: Over-shorten the first syllable making it sound as if you’re saying ‘kit-LOs’. Action: Lengthen the first vowel to a full /iː/ and stress the first syllable. - You Might: Mispronounce the second syllable as 'los' or 'loh'; Action: Use a true /loʊ/ (US) or /ləʊ/ (UK/AU) with an audible secondary vowel to avoid a clipped ending.
"She lifted the box and weighed it at about six kilos."
"The shipment weighed several kilos, so they had to arrange freight."
"He runs five kilos on the treadmill every morning."
Pronounce it as /ˈkiː.los/ in US English or /ˈkiː.ləʊz/ in UK/AU. The stress sits on the first syllable: KEE-lohz. Maintain a clear long E in the first syllable and let the final -os be a voiced sibilant, not a hard z, with a natural z sound at the end. You can think of it as ‘kee-LOHS’ in US or ‘KEE-luhz’ (lengthened vowel) in UK/AU. For accurate reference, listen to native speakers on Forvo or YouGlish and mirror the rhythm.
Common mistakes: (1) Misplacing stress, saying ki-LOs with wrong stress; (2) Shortening the first vowel to a clipped /i/ like ‘kit-LOs’; (3) Not voicing the final -z, yielding a voiceless -s. Correction: keep the first syllable long /iː/ or /iː/ in US and ensure the second syllable has a voiced final /z/ so you hear the z- sound rather than a sibilant without voice. Practice with minimal pairs and record yourself to check voicing.
In US English, kilos is typically /ˈkiː.loʊz/ with an /oʊ/ diphthong in the second syllable and a pronounced final z. UK/AU often realize it as /ˈkiː.ləʊz/ or /ˈkiː.ləʊz/, with a schwa in the second syllable and a longer /əʊ/. Rhoticity affects US more clearly, though both share final z. The main difference is the second syllable vowel quality and the degree of final syllable reduction. Listen to regional speakers for exact vowel coloring.
The challenge lies in transitioning from the long front vowel /iː/ to the close-mid back /loʊ/ or /ləʊ/ without flipping to a more centralized vowel; and in voicing the final /z/ after a high front vowel, which can be devoiced if the following consonant is stressed. Another common difficulty is producing a clean, voiced /z/ after a vowel in rapid speech. Focus on keeping a steady jaw position and precise tongue contact for the final voiced consonant.
No—there is always a final voiced /z/ in normal English usage. The plural -os in kilos is pronounced with a voiced z, as in 'dogs' or 'lives' depending on the preceding sound. The only variance is the quality of the preceding vowel in the second syllable (US /oʊ/ vs UK/AU /əʊ/), not the final consonant. Ensure you pronounce the final z clearly.
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- US: /ˈkiː.loʊz/ – ensure a clear, long first vowel; second syllable uses a strong /oʊ/ diphthong; final /z/ is voiced. - UK/AU: /ˈkiː.ləʊz/ – second syllable has a reduced /ə/ and a rounded /əʊ/; the final z remains voiced but is more discrete. - Common cross-dialect issues: US speakers often seize the second syllable length; UK/AU speakers reduce the second vowel more. IPA references: US /ˈkiː.loʊz/, UK/AU /ˈkiː.ləʊz/.
Kilo stems from the French kilo- (from Greek kilon, meaning ‘thousand’). The full term kilograms comes from kinetic combination of kilo- meaning ‘thousand’ and -gram meaning ‘unit of measure’. The plural kilos is a clipped, informal plural of kilo used in everyday English, especially in blue-collar or scientific-adjacent contexts where quick reference to kilograms is common. The word kilo first appeared in the early 20th century with the international adoption of the metric system; kilogram as a unit was standardized by the International System of Units (SI) in 1960. Colloquially, English speakers adopted kilos to refer to multiple kilograms, paralleling terms like ‘liters’ for liters and ‘meters’ for meters. The short, unstressed final -os in kilos reflects typical English pluralization of borrowed nouns with a final -os, where the pronunciation places secondary stress on the root syllable and a light final vowel. First known written uses appear in technical, trade, and scientific texts from the 1940s onward as metric usage spread globally. In modern usage, kilos is the predominant colloquial plural for kilograms in many English dialects, especially when speaking quickly or in informal contexts.
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Words that rhyme with "kilos"
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