2 syllables: lou, der. Stress on lou.
LOW-dur
/ˈlaʊdɚ/
louder is pronounced LOW-dur (/ˈlaʊdɚ/). It has two syllables (lou-der), with the stress on "lou". Louder is a comparative adjective meaning having more volume or intensity of sound. It is also the adverb form of loud, used to modify verbs and describe increased sound levels in various contexts. In usage, you compare two sounds or actions, as in “Please speak louder” or “The drums grew louder.” The word centers on the vowel sound /aʊ/ and the rhotic, open-final /ɚ/ or /ər/ depending on the accent, affecting rhythm and intonation.
Louder is a comparative adjective meaning having more volume or intensity of sound. It is also the adverb form of loud, used to modify verbs and describe increased sound levels in various contexts. In usage, you compare two sounds or actions, as in “Please speak louder” or “The drums grew louder.” The word centers on the vowel sound /aʊ/ and the rhotic, open-final /ɚ/ or /ər/ depending on the accent, affecting rhythm and intonation.
"Please speak louder so everyone can hear you."
"The crowd grew louder as the band started the chorus."
"He spoke louder to be heard over the rain."
US/UK/AU pronunciations share the same first syllable /ˈlaʊ/. In American and many UK pronunciations, the final -der is /dɚ/ or /də/ with a rhotacized schwa; the US often retains a more pronounced /ɚ/ rhotic ending, so it sounds like 'LAU-der' with a quick 'd-er.' The key is the diphthong /aʊ/ in the first syllable and a light, quick /d/ before a schwa. IPA: US /ˈlaʊ.dɚ/, UK /ˈlaʊ.də/.
Common errors include mispronouncing the diphthong as a pure /a/ or /ɔ:/ instead of /aʊ/, and over-articulating the /r/ or not reducing the final -er. Correct by keeping the /aʊ/ glide short and crisp, then transitioning to a weak schwa or rhotic vowel. Ensure the /d/ is a light, quick stop rather than a heavy 'd' or 'dd' sound. In many UK accents, the ending is unstressed /ə/; in US, it’s /ɚ/. Practice with IPA cues to avoid a long vowel before the /r/.
In US English, final -er tends to rhoticate as /ɚ/, giving 'LAU-der' a compact ending. UK typically uses /ə/ or a less rhotic vowel in some dialects, so it can sound like /ˈlaʊ.də/. Australian varieties closely resemble UK vowels with a non-rhotic or lightly rhotic ending, and their /ə/ can be more centralized. Across all, the first syllable retains the /aʊ/ diphthong, but rhoticity and vowel quality of the final syllable distinguish the accents.
The difficulty centers on producing the /aʊ/ diphthong clearly within a two-syllable word and transitioning smoothly into a concise final /ər/ (or /ə/). The glide from /aɪ/ to /aʊ/ should be natural, not exaggerated, and the /d/ should be a quick, light finger-stroke to avoid over-voicing. Additionally, speakers often misplace stress or reduce the final vowel too aggressively, which can blur the intended tense, making it sound like ‘loter’ or ‘louder’ without emphasis.
A common, word-specific query is whether the final -er is pronounced as /ɚ/ or /ə/ in a given accent, and how the /d/ interacts with a potential weak vowel. The correct nuance is that in rhotic accents (/ɚ/ often realized as rhotacized), the ending has a quick, subtle r-coloring, whereas non-rhotic accents may drop the /r/ or reduce it to a near-schwa. Understanding this helps you nail natural-sounding closer-to-native speech.
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US: emphasize rhotic ending, keep /ə/ or /ɚ/ short; UK/AU: more centralized final vowel, less rhotacization in some variants. Vowel notes: /aʊ/ as a rising diphthong; final /ə/ typically reduced. IPA references: US /ˈlaʊ.dɚ/ , UK /ˈlaʊ.də/ , AU /ˈlaʊ.də/.
Louder originates from the adjective loud, which traces to the Old English leod, linked to Germanic roots meaning ‘fierce, strong’ and later ‘loud, noisy’. The comparative suffix -er was added to form louder in Middle English, following a familiar pattern of forming comparatives from adjectives with a simple -er ending. The meaning expanded from simply having a loud sound to “more loud” in contrastive contexts, and by the 16th–18th centuries it was standard in English grammar to form the comparative with -er or with more for words of longer syllable count. The usage evolved with changing pronunciation patterns, particularly the reduction of unstressed vowels in connected speech, which influences how louder is perceived in rapid speech. First known written attestations appear in early Modern English texts, with the word used in discourse to compare intensities of sound, often in musical or public-speaking contexts. Over time, louder became a fixed part of everyday English for describing relative volume, both in literal acoustics and figurative intensification.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "louder" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "louder" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "louder"
-wer sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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