One syllable: Meme.
meem
/mim/
Meme is pronounced meem (/mim/). It has one syllable (Meme), with the stress on "Meme". A meme is a cultural unit—an idea, joke, image, or video—that spreads rapidly online, often evolving through replication and modification. As a linguistic item, it can function as a noun referring to such a viral element or to the concept of meme culture itself. The term captures how ideas propagate similarly to genes, shaping shared humor and social signals.
nounA meme is a cultural unit—an idea, joke, image, or video—that spreads rapidly online, often evolving through replication and modification. As a linguistic item, it can function as a noun referring to such a viral element or to the concept of meme culture itself. The term captures how ideas propagate similarly to genes, shaping shared humor and social signals.
How to Pronounce Meme
"That meme from the meeting perfectly captures our team’s inside joke."
"She shared a meme about coffee addicts that went viral overnight."
"We analyzed the meme’s caption for its humor and timing."
Pronounce as /miːm/ with a long 'ee' sound. The mouth shapes produce a high front tense vowel; lips are spread, tongue high and forward. The word is a single syllable with primary stress on the vowel. You can reference standard dictionaries and audio sources for listening practice: /miːm/ in US/UK/AU.
Mistakes include pronouncing it as /mɛm/ with a short ‘e’ as in ‘met,’ or adding an extra consonant sound at the end. Some speakers reduce it to /miːm/ with a lax mouth, losing tenseness; others nasalize it. Correct by enforcing a long /iː/ followed by a clean /m/. Use minimal pairs like 'team' vs 'meme' to feel the vowel length difference.
In all three, MEME uses a long /iː/. US English is rhotic but does not affect this word; the vowel quality remains high-front. UK/Australian varieties keep the same /miːm/ vowel, with slight differences in vowel length and intonation. Australians may show a marginally steadier vowel and crisper final /m/. Overall, the primary difference is intonation pattern, not vowel quality.
The challenge is sustaining a tense high-front vowel /iː/ in a closed syllable and then transitioning to the bilabial nasal /m/ without vowel shortening. Some speakers inadvertently lax the vowel to /ɪ/ or /i/ or add a vowel-like glottal stop before /m/ in rapid speech. Focus on keeping the tongue high and forward, lips spread, then close with a clean lip closure for /m/.
The critical feature is the long /iː/ vowel in a short, single-syllable word. Unlike many other monosyllables, meme retains a pure long vowel without glide or diphthong. While many English words with /iː/ use more complex r-colored tones or elongated vowels in casual speech, meme stays compact and clipped in fast talk, maintaining the steady /iː/ sound.
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The word meme was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. He derived it from the Greek mimos, meaning ‘imitator’ or ‘to imitate,’ and shaped it as a cultural analogue to genes. Dawkins proposed memes propagate, replicate, and mutate through imitation, subject to selection pressures of attraction and relevance. In early usage, memes referred to any cultural idea that spreads, but the rise of the internet in the 1990s-2000s sharpened its focus to image-, video-, and text-based cultural units. As online communication intensified, the term broadened to describe virality patterns and meme ecosystems, including formats like image macros, GIF memes, and video remixes. The word’s meaning has evolved from a general concept of replication to a specialized label for rapid, memetic dissemination on digital platforms. The first known written use by Dawkins appeared in The Selfish Gene (1976), with subsequent popularization in academic and media discourse. Since then, memes have become central to digital culture, spanning politics, marketing, and everyday humor, while also raising questions about ownership, remix culture, and online communities.
💡 Etymology tip: Understanding word origins can help you remember pronunciation patterns and recognize related words in the same language family.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Meme" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Meme" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Meme"
-eam sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
