sklur-OH-suhs
/sklɚˈoʊsəs/
Sclerosis is pronounced sklur-OH-suhs (/sklɚˈoʊsəs/). Sclerosis is a medical term describing hardening of tissue or arteries due to fibrosis or scarring. It is used in contexts ranging from neurology (multiple sclerosis) to cardiology and dermatology, and denotes a pathologic stiffening process that can affect function. The word is most often encountered in clinical or academic speech and should be pronounced with careful, precise enunciation to convey severity and specificity.
nounSclerosis is a medical term describing hardening of tissue or arteries due to fibrosis or scarring. It is used in contexts ranging from neurology (multiple sclerosis) to cardiology and dermatology, and denotes a pathologic stiffening process that can affect function. The word is most often encountered in clinical or academic speech and should be pronounced with careful, precise enunciation to convey severity and specificity.
- Common phonetic challenges: (1) misplacing the primary stress away from the /roʊ/ syllable, (2) misproducing the /ɪə/ diphthong into a simple /ɪ/ or /i/ and (3) misarticulating the /skl/ cluster leading to a stale or muffled initial sound. Corrections: (1) place strong emphasis on the second syllable; (2) practice /ɪə/ by starting with /ɪ/ then slide to /ə/ as you approach /roʊ/; (3) keep the /s/ and /k/ crisp and the /l/ light. Practice slow to normal, then run-up speed drills to ensure smooth transition between the diphthong and /roʊ/.
"The radiologist reported areas of sclerosis in the cerebral white matter."
"Her dermatologist noted sclerosis in the scar that formed after the injury."
"Chronic sclerosis of the arteries contributes to reduced blood flow."
Say skluh-RAH-sis with primary stress on the second syllable: /ˌsklɪəˈroʊsɪs/ in US, /ˌsklɪəˈrəʊsɪs/ in UK and AU. Begin with /s/ + /kl/ cluster, move to a soft /ɪə/ diphthong, then a strong /roʊ/ or /rəʊ/ as the stressed syllable, finishing with /sɪs/. Mouth fairly closed, tongue tip behind upper teeth, lips neutral to spread for the /ɪə/; avoid turning into /skɜː/ or /sklɒ/.”
Common errors: misplacing stress, pronouncing as sKLEER-o-sis instead of sklɪəˈroʊsɪs; mispronouncing the /roʊ/ as a quick /ro/ or turning it into /roʊz/. Another mistake is merging /skl/ into /sk/ or over-articulating the second vowel as /ɪ/ or /i/. To correct: emphasize the /roʊ/ syllable, keep the /l/ light, and practice the /ɪə/ diphthong before /roʊ/ without inserting extra vowel. Use slow, deliberate syllable separation: skl-ɪə-ˈroʊ-sɪs.”
In US English, you’ll hear /ˌsklɪəˈroʊsɪs/ with rhoticity affecting the /r/ and a clear /oʊ/ in the stressed syllable. UK pronunciation tends to /ˌsklɪəˈrəʊsɪs/ with non-rhoticity and a longer /əʊ/ in the stress. Australian mirrors UK rhotic tendencies but may show a slightly flatter /ɔː/ or /ə/ depending on speaker; the /ɪə/ before the stressed /roʊ/ is often more centralized. Overall the key differences are rhoticity and vowel length of the stressed /roʊ/ and the preceding /ɪə/.”
The difficulty lies in the multi-syllabic structure with a secondary cluster at the start (skl), the two consecutive vowels /ɪə/ creating a diphthong transition, and a non-phonemic link between the first and second syllables. The stressed /roʊ/ has a strong vowel that can dominate if not careful, while the final /sɪs/ can blur with nearby sibilants in fast medical speech. Practicing the exact sequence skl-ɪə-ˈroʊ-sɪs helps clarity in clinical contexts.
There are no silent letters in sclerosis; each letter corresponds to a sound in standard medical pronunciation. The challenge is coordinating the consonant cluster at the beginning (s-k-l) with the diphthong /ɪə/ and the rhotic or non-rhotic realization of /r/ in various dialects. Focus on a clean initial /skl/ onset, then smoothly glide through the /ɪə/ before landing on the stressed /roʊ/.
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- US: rhotic /r/ in 'roʊs', more pronounced /r/. Vowels: /ɪə/ may be shorter; /roʊ/ is a tight, rounded syllable. - UK: non-rhotic; /roʊ/ often realized as /rəʊ/ with less rhotic emphasis; /ɪə/ may be centralized. - AU: similar to UK but with slight vowel flattening; /ɪə/ can blend more with adjacent schwas. IPA references guide: /ˌsklɪəˈroʊsɪs/ (US), /ˌsklɪəˈrəʊsɪs/ (UK/AU). - Tip: in all accents, keep the initial /skl/ cluster precise, avoid vowel folding into /klɪs/ or /skloʊ/.
Sclerosis comes from the Modern Latin sclerosus, from Greek skleros meaning ‘hard, tough, firm’. The term entered medical vocabulary in the 19th century as anatomy and pathology adopted Greek roots to describe tissue changes. The root skler- (hard) appears in related terms like atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries due to fatty deposits) and osteosclerosis (abnormal hardening of bone). The suffix -osis denotes a condition or disease state. Early usage focused on visible hardening in tissues, expanding to describe systemic and organ-specific fibrotic processes. Over time, sclerosis accumulated diagnostic applicability, becoming a standard term in neurology (e.g., multiple sclerosis), dermatology, cardiology, and rheumatology. First known usages appear in medical texts from late 1800s-early 1900s, with formalized definitions in pathology dictionaries as understanding of fibrotic processes grew. The English form sclerosis emphasizes the state of hardening rather than the cause, which is why it is commonly paired with prefixes (e.g., multiple sclerosis) to specify the tissue or organ involved.
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Words that rhyme with "Sclerosis"
-sis sounds
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