4 syllables: Po, ly, pha, gia. Stress on pha.
poh-lee-FAY-juh
/ˌpoʊliˈfeɪdʒə/
Polyphagia is pronounced poh-lee-FAY-juh (/ˌpoʊliˈfeɪdʒə/). It has four syllables (Po-ly-pha-gia), with the stress on "pha". Polyphagia is a medical term for excessive or abnormal appetite. It denotes an insatiable hunger that can occur in various conditions, including diabetes or certain endocrine disorders. The word combines Greek roots referring to many and eating, and is used mainly in clinical and research contexts to describe this symptom.
nounPolyphagia is a medical term for excessive or abnormal appetite. It denotes an insatiable hunger that can occur in various conditions, including diabetes or certain endocrine disorders. The word combines Greek roots referring to many and eating, and is used mainly in clinical and research contexts to describe this symptom.
- You: You often misplace the stress, saying po-LI-fee-ja instead of po-LY-fei-dze-ə. Fix by tapping the beat: 2-3-4, placing secondary stress on the first syllable and primary on the second. - Vowel clarity: the /ɪ/ in the first syllable tends to get reduced; keep it as a short, crisp 0a as in 'pol' (not 'puh-lee'). - Final cluster: end with a soft /ə/; avoid ending with a hard 'gah' or 'gah' sound; practice by saying /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/ slowly, then speed up maintaining the /dʒə/.
"The patient exhibited polyphagia, consuming meals at a rapid pace despite feeling full."
"Polyphagia can be a clue to underlying metabolic issues that require evaluation."
"After diagnosing the condition, the clinician explained potential treatments for polyphagia."
You say /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/ in US/UK/AU. Primary stress falls on the second syllable ‘feɪ’, with a secondary stress on the first syllable ‘pol-’. Break it into po-lia-phage-a: po- LYE- phay- ja. The “ph” is /f/; the ending -gia often reduces to a soft /dʒə/ like “-gia” /-dʒə/. Visualize: POL-li-FAY-ja. Audio reference: listening to medical pronunciation resources can help confirm the /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/ pattern.
Common errors: 1) Dropping secondary stress and misplacing accent on the wrong syllable (say po-LI-pha-ja). 2) Pronouncing ‘ph’ as a hard /f/ without the correct preceding vowel rounding (pol-lif-ea-ja). 3) Ending as -gia with a hard /ɡ/?; correct is /dʒə/ at the end, not /ga/. Corrections: keep /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/, emphasize /feɪ/ and soften the final /ə/; ensure ‘ph’ corresponds to /f/ and final sound is /dʒə/.
In US/UK/AU, primary stress on the second syllable remains constant: /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/. US speakers may reduce unstressed vowels slightly more in rapid speech, while UK speakers may maintain crisper syllable boundaries. Australian pronunciation often has a more rounded onset vowel in the first syllable and may smooth the final /ə/ into a lighter schwa. Overall, the rhoticity doesn't affect the word; differences are mainly in vowel quality and rhythm.
The difficulty lies in the multi-syllabic, Greek-derived assembly and the /feɪ/ vowel combination, plus the final /dʒə/ cluster that can blur in rapid speech. The two-stress pattern requires careful timing: keep the secondary stress clearly audible on the first syllable, then deliver the high front vowel /eɪ/ in the second syllable, and finalize with the voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ followed by a soft schwa /ə/.
No. The middle 'phag' is pronounced with a long /eɪ/ (as in 'day') for the 'pha' part and the 'g' combines with the following 'i' to form /dʒə/ at the end. So the sequence should be /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/. The 'ph' digraph is /f/, the 'ag' near the end contributes to the /dʒ/ sound when followed by 'ia' to form /dʒə/; avoid an abrupt /ɡ/ or /j/ mispronunciations.
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- US: keep the /ɒ/ as a rounded back vowel, with /ɪ/ as a lax near-high vowel. - UK: crisper /ɒ/ in the first syllable, and /eɪ/ in the second syllable with a slightly more forward tongue. - AU: similar to US with less rhoticity; lips rounding is moderate; the final /ə/ is often a light schwa. IPA references: /ˌpɒlɪˈfeɪdʒə/.
Polyphagia comes from the Greek prefix poly- meaning many or much, and -phagia from phagein meaning to eat. The form was adopted into medical English to describe abnormal eating behavior. First used in the 19th century within endocrinology and psychiatry texts, polyphagia has been deployed to distinguish pathological hunger from normal appetite. The term often appears alongside polyuria or polydipsia in discussions of diabetes mellitus and other metabolic or genetic conditions. Its usage has remained specialized, though it is occasionally encountered in case reports and clinical descriptions of syndromes that involve excessive hunger. The root phi- graphemes reflect the Greek tradition of constructing medical vocabulary via combining forms that indicate quantity (poly-) and eating action (-phagia). Over time, its definition has narrowed to the clinical symptom rather than casual colloquial use, emphasizing its diagnostic relevance rather than everyday hunger. Modern literature emphasizes pathophysiology, including hormonal signals like ghrelin and leptin, and neurobiological pathways that regulate appetite and satiety.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Polyphagia" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Polyphagia"
-gia sounds
-lia sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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