PEP-urz
/ˈpɛpɚz/
peppers is pronounced PEP-urz (/ˈpɛpɚz/). Peppers is a plural noun or verb form referring to the spice fruits of Capsicum peppers or to green/yellow/red vegetables used to flavor and garnish dishes. In most contexts it denotes multiple pepper items or the act of peppering. The word combines the plural suffix -s with the base pepper, and pronunciation emphasizes the first syllable with a clear /p/ onset and final /z/ sound when pluralized or /ɚz/ in certain dialects when used as a verb.
Peppers is a plural noun or verb form referring to the spice fruits of Capsicum peppers or to green/yellow/red vegetables used to flavor and garnish dishes. In most contexts it denotes multiple pepper items or the act of peppering. The word combines the plural suffix -s with the base pepper, and pronunciation emphasizes the first syllable with a clear /p/ onset and final /z/ sound when pluralized or /ɚz/ in certain dialects when used as a verb.
- You may flatten the second syllable, producing /ˈpep.əz/ without the subtle /ə/ or /ɚ/ quality; aim for a light, quick schwa or rhotic vowel depending on your accent. - The final /z/ can slip into /s/ if you don’t voice it; practice with a mirror and a voicing check by pressing thumb on neck to feel vibration. - In casual speech, many reduce the first syllable too much; keep approximate length on PE P to maintain clarity. - When using the verb form, ensure stress remains on the first syllable; in phrases like 'peppers the room', the rhythm should still highlight PE PERS. - Ensure the mouth doesn’t overly round the lips in the second syllable; keep it relaxed and neutral.
"She added chopped peppers to the stir-fry for color and crunch."
"The chef peppered the sauce with cracked black pepper for heat."
"Kids can be peppered with questions during the game as a fun metaphor."
You say PEH-pers with the stress on the first syllable. IPA: US /ˈpep.ərz/ or /ˈpep.ɚz/ depending on dialect; UK/AU often /ˈpep.əz/ with a schwa in the second syllable. Tip: keep the initial /p/ explosive, then a quick /e/ as in 'pet', followed by a light /p/ and a soft /ɚ/ or /ə/ before the final /z/.
Common errors: 1) Slurring the second syllable into a blurred /ər/ or /ə/ without a clear vowel: instead cue a short /ə/ before the final /z/. 2) Weakening the final /z/ into an /s/ when the preceding vowel is unstressed; aim for a voiced /z/. 3) Misplacing stress on the second syllable in rapid speech; ensure primary stress remains on first syllable even in phrases like 'peppers' as a verb. Practice with careful segment-by-segment articulation.
In US English, you’ll often hear /ˈpep.ɚz/ with rhotic r-colored schwa in the second syllable. UK English tends to /ˈpep.əz/ with a weaker or non-rhotic second syllable and a shorter vowel in the second vowel position. Australian vowels are similar to UK but with slight vowel quality shifts: /ˈpep.əz/ or /ˈpep.əz/ depending on speaker. Overall, rhoticity and vowel height in the second syllable define the major differences.
The difficulty comes from the consonant cluster and final voiced fricative. You must time the burst of /p/ with a short, lax vowel in the second syllable and produce a clear final /z/. The transition from /p/ to /ə/ or /ɚ/ to /z/ requires fine-tuned voicing, especially in connected speech where the vowel may reduce quickly. Misplacing voicing or drawing out the /r/ (in rhotic varieties) can disrupt the natural flow.
The plural -s carries voicing depending on the preceding sound; in peppers, the final /z/ is voiced when the preceding sound ends in a voiced segment (/r/ or vowels), while /s/ can appear after voiceless consonants. This makes careful voicing control essential: keep the /z/ voiced, not devoiced in rapid speech, to preserve natural rhythm.
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- US: rhotic /ɹ/ is pronounced; second syllable often a schwar or rhotic vowel depending on region; keep the tongue low-mid for /ə/ or /ɚ/ with a short duration. - UK: less rhoticity; second syllable often a lax /ə/; maintain a lighter jaw and less vocal fold engagement; avoid rolling the /r/ unless your dialect requires it. - AU: similar to UK but with slightly broader vowels; keep second syllable short with a clear /ə/ sound; final /z/ is voiced. - IPA references: US /ˈpep.ɚz/, UK /ˈpep.əz/, AU /ˈpep.əz/.
Peppers comes from Middle English pepper, from Old English peper, which traces back to Latin peper, from Greek peperi or pyperi, ultimately from a Dravidian or Semitic root possibly linked to the taste known as peppery rather than to the modern peppercorn. The word pepper originally described the spice peppercorn and the plant producing pungent seeds; by extension, the name was applied to the related Capsicum fruits in many European languages after the Americas were encountered. The modern plural peppers reflects a development in English where the base word pepper takes a plural -s suffix to indicate multiple fruits or instances of peppering. The shift from seed and spice to vegetable usage occurred as Europeans adopted chili and bell peppers from the New World, with the verb form peppering arising to describe the action of sprinkling or peppering something with pepper or pepper-like substances. The earliest attestations in English for pepper as a spice date to the 9th–12th centuries, with pepper as a broader culinary descriptor intensifying as trade and global cuisine expanded. By the 16th–17th centuries, pepper referred to multiple pepper fruits in culinary contexts, and the verb form peppering appeared in the sense of applying small things in a scattered or combative manner. The precise modern sense of “peppers” as a plural noun or as a verb is thus a product of semantic broadening and lexical borrowing across centuries.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "peppers" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "peppers"
-ers sounds
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