2 syllables: Mish, aps. Stress on Mish.
MIS-haps
/ˈmɪˌshæps/
Mishaps is pronounced MIS-haps (/ˈmɪˌshæps/). It has two syllables (Mish-aps), with the stress on "Mish". Mishaps is a plural noun referring to minor, often unintended, mishaps or accidents that occur in everyday activities. It denotes small, sometimes humorous errors or misfortunes rather than serious incidents, typically occurring in quick succession or as a result of momentary carelessness. The term carries a light, informal tone and is commonly used in casual conversation and narrative descriptions.
nounMishaps is a plural noun referring to minor, often unintended, mishaps or accidents that occur in everyday activities. It denotes small, sometimes humorous errors or misfortunes rather than serious incidents, typically occurring in quick succession or as a result of momentary carelessness. The term carries a light, informal tone and is commonly used in casual conversation and narrative descriptions.
"We had a few mishaps on the hiking trail, like tripping over roots and spilling water everywhere."
"Her presentation went smoothly until a few small mishaps with the projector interrupted the slides."
"The kitchen was messy, but the mishaps were mostly funny—no one was hurt."
You say MIS-haps with primary stress on the first syllable. Phonetically: US/UK /ˈmɪˌhæps/. Start with a quick, crisp /m/ closure, then a short /ɪ/ as in “sit,” move to /hæ/ with an open jaw for the /æ/ like in “cat,” and finish with the /ps/ cluster where p releases into a light sibilant. Think of a brief aspirated stop followed by a soft fricative. Audio reference: imagine a short, light ‘MISH-’ then ‘aps’ quickly—very common in conversational speech.
Common errors include turning /mɪ/ into a longer e.g., ‘mih-’ dragging the vowel, or mispronouncing the final /ps/ as a hard /ps/ without the phonetic release. Some speakers blend /ɪ/ and /æ/ too wide, saying /ˈmæhæps/ or drop the /h/ altogether, producing /ˈmɪapps/. To correct: keep a crisp /ɪ/ in the first syllable, ensure /hæ/ is distinct with a neutral /h/ onset, and practice a light, immediate release into /ps/ rather than a strong plosive plus s. Practice slowly, then speed up while maintaining the release.
US tends to have a sharper /ɪ/ in the first syllable and a clearer /æ/ in the second, with a light final /ps/. UK often features a slightly shorter /ɪ/ and a more centralized vowel in the second syllable; the /p/ may be less aspirated in some contexts. Australian pronunciation is similar to US but with a more centralized first vowel and a softer /ps/ release. Across accents, rhoticity does not affect this word much, since it is non-rhotic in many UK varieties, though some speakers may vocalize the /r/ before vowels in connected speech.
The difficulty lies in the /ps/ final cluster, which requires a light, almost seamless release from the /p/ into the /s/ without a strong stop, plus maintaining a crisp first syllable stress. The /ɪ/ vs /æ/ contrast in the second syllable can trip speakers who transfer sounds from their native language. Also, the slight secondary stress potential in some rapid speech patterns can blur the second syllable. Focus on a brief, controlled breath and a smooth transition from /hæ/ to /ps/.
There are no silent letters in Mishaps; each letter contributes to the sound. The key feature is the final /ps/ cluster, which requires a small release: the /p/ stop followed immediately by /s/ with little to no vowel between them. This can make the ending tricky for non-native speakers who either release too strongly or omit the /s/. Practicing the exact final stop+fricative pairing helps master this word.
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Mishaps originates from Middle English mishap, where mishap itself blended mish- ‘wrongly’ with -hap ‘chance, luck’ to form a word meaning an unlucky or unlucky event. The base hap, a Germanic root, appears in various languages with sense of fortune or chance; -hap indicates “affair of chance.” Over time, mishap broadened from a singular unlucky event to a category of minor accidental misfortunes. In Early Modern English, the term frequently described minor accidents or unfortunate occurrences in daily life and gradually shifted toward a more colloquial connotation. The current plural mishaps emphasizes multiple occurrences (or a series) rather than a single event. First known written appearances appear in medieval and early modern texts, reflecting a general usage about everyday misfortunes rather than high-stakes disasters. The semantic evolution tracks with the rise of colloquial speech and storytelling, where light, humorous errors in everyday tasks are common. Today, mishaps remains a light-hearted, informal word used widely in spoken English, particularly in recounting events during travel, work, or domestic life. The word retains its sense of minor causation by chance, rather than deliberate wrongdoing, and its usage often conveys sympathy or amusement rather than fault-finding.
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Words that rhyme with "Mishaps"
-aps sounds
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