/ɹɪˈdʒɛkʃən/
Say it backRejection refers to the act or state of refusing or dismissing something, often accompanied by a sense of denial or non-acceptance. It can describe a decision, an emotional response, or social exclusion, and carries implications of turning away or withholding approval. The term is used across personal, professional, and scientific contexts to indicate opposition or non-endorsement.
- You may stress the first syllable by habit: practice placing primary stress on the second syllable: /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/ rather than /ˈrɪdʒɛk.tʃən/. - The /dʒ/ should be a single affricate; avoid turning it into /dj/ or /g/. Practice with minimal pairs: re-ject vs. reject, focusing on the second syllable onset /dʒ/. - Final /ʃən/ can blur into /ʃn/; keep a clean vowel + schwa: /-ʃən/.
"The committee’s rejection of the proposal surprised the researchers."
"She felt the sting of rejection after not getting the job."
"His early rejection of the idea saved the team from a costly mistake."
Rejection is pronounced /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/ in US and UK English. The primary stress falls on the second syllable: deJEC-tion, with the 'g' softened by the following 'e' making /dʒ/ as in 'judge'. The final syllable is a schwa + n, /-ʃən/. Mouth positions: start with a short /r/ and /ɪ/, then the /dʒ/ blends into /e/ as in 'jet', followed by /k/ before the /ʃ/ sound, and finish with /ən/. Audio references: consult NPR/Cambridge audio pronunciations for real-time examples.
Common mistakes include misplacing the primary stress on the first syllable (re-jection) and mispronouncing /dʒ/ as /tʃ/ (like ‘chek-tion’). Another frequent slip is dropping the /t/ before the /ʃ/ (saying /-kən/ or /-ʃən/ without the /t/). To correct: emphasize the /ˈdʒek/ cluster with a brief, precise release, and maintain the /t/ before /ʃ/ as in /tʃən/ by delaying the tongue slightly to avoid assimilation into /ʃ/.
American and British varieties share /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/ with the primary stress on the second syllable. Differences lie in the rhoticity and vowel quality: US tends to r-color the /ɪ/ and may be slightly more centralized in rapid speech; UK often features crisper /dʒ/ and a clearer /ə/ in the final syllable; Australian tends to be non-rhotic like UK, with a flatter final vowel and less intrusive linking. IPA references remain /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/.
The difficulty centers on the /dʒ/ cluster and the syllable boundary: /rɪ/ then /ˈdʒek/—a consonant blend that requires precise tongue placement to avoid slurring into /d/ or /j/. The trailing /ʃən/ adds a rhotic-less or weak schwa depending on accent, which can blur into /ən/ in fast speech. Also, keeping the stress on the second syllable in connected speech without reducing it to a weaker syllable takes practice. IPA cues help: /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/.
Is the second syllable's vowel length or quality ever altered in rapid speech? In careful speech, the /e/ in /ˈdʒek/ is a short, closed vowel, but in fast or connected speech some speakers reduce it toward /ə/ or pass through to /ɪ/ depending on emphasis. You’ll hear variations like /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/ and /rɪˈdʒɪk.ʃən/ in casual talk, though these are less standard. IPA reminder keeps you anchored: /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/.
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- US: rhoticity is strong; you’ll hear /r/; ensure /ɪ/ is shorter, then /ˈdʒek/ with a crisp stop before /ʃən/. - UK: non-rhotic; /r/ is absent; /ɪ/ may be slightly longer; keep /ə/ in /ʃən/ stable. - AU: similar to UK but with more centralized vowels; occasional vowel merging in rapid speech. Use IPA guides to tune quality: /rɪˈdʒek.ʃən/ → note subtle vowel shifts and rhotic presence or absence.
Rejection comes from the prefix re- meaning 'back' or 'again' combined with the Latin word iacere meaning 'to throw' (as in eject). The modern sense of turning something down or refusing arises from the idea of throwing back or refusing an offer, a sense attested in English by the 15th century. Over time, the nuance broadened from simply throwing something back physically to refusing social or abstract propositions. The word traversed through Middle English forms such as reccecioun or recciyoun in reference to “rejection” as a throwing back or repudiation, eventually aligning to the legal and social linguistics of denial. By the 17th and 18th centuries, rejection acquired psychological dimensions, describing emotional denial in relationships and the acting of turning someone away in social contexts. In contemporary use, rejection spans many domains—medical, bureaucratic, artistic, and interpersonal—while retaining the core sense of non-acceptance or removal. First known use in English literature appears in legal and rhetorical texts where a proposal or claim was rejected or refused, illustrating the long-standing association with judgment and boundary-setting.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "rejection" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "rejection"
-ion sounds
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