2 syllables: Sin, ew. Stress on Sin.
SIN-yoo
/ˈsɪnjuː/
Sinew is pronounced SIN-yoo (/ˈsɪnjuː/). It has two syllables (Sin-ew), with the stress on "Sin". Sinew is a strong, fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bone, providing structural support and transmitting muscular force. It also appears figuratively to mean muscular power or resilience. The term is most common in anatomical contexts and literary usage, often conveying toughness or vigor through its imagery.
nounSinew is a strong, fibrous tissue that connects muscle to bone, providing structural support and transmitting muscular force. It also appears figuratively to mean muscular power or resilience. The term is most common in anatomical contexts and literary usage, often conveying toughness or vigor through its imagery.
- You’ll often flatten the vowel, producing a short /ɪ/ or turning the second syllable into /ju/ without the proper /ː/ length. Fix: hold the /uː/ long and ensure a clean /j/ before it. - Some speakers insert an extra vowel between /n/ and /j/, saying /ˈsnɪ-juː/ or /ˈsɪn-ju/ with a break. Fix: maintain rapid, gliding transition /n.juː/. - Misplacing stress, sounding like /ˈsɪn.ju/ or /ˈsɪn.juː/ with a weak second syllable. Fix: emphasize the first syllable and keep the second unstressed but full. - Potential mispronunciation as /ˈsaɪ.nuː/ or /ˈsin.ju/ due to misreading the vowel in the first syllable. Practice the short /ɪ/ sound and avoid /aɪ/.
How to Pronounce Sinew
"The hunter’s sinew held the severed shaft together, keeping the bow taut."
"In old medical texts, sinew is described alongside ligaments and tendons as connective tissue."
"She paid close attention to the sinew of the rope, careful not to fray it."
You say it as SIN-yoo, with the stress on the first syllable. Phonetically: /ˈsɪn.juː/. Start with a short, crisp /ɪ/ in the first syllable, then glide into a long /uː/ in the second syllable. Keep the y as a quick consonant transition between syllables, not a separate vowel sound. Tip: avoid turning the second syllable into a separate “yoo” vowel without the off-glide; keep it a clean /juː/ sequence.
Common errors include misplacing the stress or turning /juː/ into a separate /ju/ plus /ː/. People also sometimes say/ˈsɪnju/ without the proper linking sound, making it sound like two separate words. To correct: keep /j/ as a semivowel in the second syllable and coast into /juː/ rather than stopping at /ju/; maintain the strong initial /ɪ/ vowel in SIN, and avoid reducing the second syllable.
In US/UK/AU, the pronunciation remains /ˈsɪn.juː/, with a strong initial /sɪn/ and a long /juː/ in the second syllable. The primary difference is rhoticity and vowel quality: US tends to slightly longer /ɪ/ and a clearer /ˈsɪn.juː/; UK often has crisper /ˈsɪn.juː/ with less vowel length variation; AU mirrors US intonation but may feature a slightly flatter final vowel due to Australian vowel reduction in connected speech. Overall, the word remains two syllables with a stress on the first.
The challenge lies in the fast, smooth transition between syllables: the /ɪ/ in /sɪ/ sits close to a near-close front position, and the /juː/ requires a quick, controlled glide. The /n/ should be exactly before the /j/ without a heavy pause, forming a seamless /n.juː/. Some speakers also mispronounce it as /ˈsaɪ.nuː/ or segment it as /ˈsɪn.ju/; focus on maintaining toe-to-mouth spring from the tongue for /n/ to /j/ and then into /uː/.
A distinctive feature is the /juː/ sequence after the /n/. It’s not a simple /ju/ diphthong; it’s a y-into-u sequence where lips close slightly and then round to the long /uː/. The tongue moves from alveolar /n/ to a palatal approximant /j/ and then to the high back /uː/. Paying attention to the subtle coarticulation between /n/ and /j/ helps you land the word cleanly.
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- US: Maintain rhoticity of the /r/ absent in sinew; focus on the crisp /ɪ/ and a long /uː/. - UK: Keep a slightly crisper, shorter first vowel and a rounded, longer second vowel; avoid British /ɒ/ or /ə/ in the second syllable. - AU: Similar to US, but expect flatter intonation; the /juː/ should remain a tight glide rather than a broad diphthong. IPA references: /ˈsɪn.juː/ for all three. - Common collocations: sinew of the body, sinew strength, sinew and tendon; practice linking to common words with minimal pause, ensuring smooth articulation.
Sinew comes from Old English snyow or snaw, related to the German Schnur (cord) and Dutch spier or spierkracht, all rooted in Proto-Germanic snaiwō. It originally referred to a sinewy or cord-like tissue and later broadened to mean strength or power, particularly in a muscular sense. The word traces to Proto-Indo-European root *seyn-/*sien- denoting binding, cord, or sinew. In Middle English, sinew appears in medical and anatomical descriptions as a connective tissue element binding muscle to bone. Over centuries, its metaphorical usage for vigor emerged in literature, giving phrases like “great sinew of the nation” to imply muscular resilience. The modern sense retains both literal anatomical meaning and extended figurative usage, though in contemporary science it’s more commonly described as tendinous tissue associated with tendons or fibrous cords rather than a single anatomical token.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Sinew" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Sinew"
-nue sounds
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