One syllable: Woes.
wohz
/woʊz/
Woes is pronounced wohz (/woʊz/). It has one syllable (Woes), with the stress on "Woes". Woes is a plural noun meaning expressions of great sorrow or trouble. It refers to misfortune or suffering that is felt or lamented, often used in literary or formal contexts. The term captures the emotional weight of distress, not a specific incident. In everyday speech, it can denote long-standing troubles or a particular sorrowful situation.
nounWoes is a plural noun meaning expressions of great sorrow or trouble. It refers to misfortune or suffering that is felt or lamented, often used in literary or formal contexts. The term captures the emotional weight of distress, not a specific incident. In everyday speech, it can denote long-standing troubles or a particular sorrowful situation.
"Her family lamented the woes of war that had displaced them for years."
"The old poet's verses spoke of earthly woes and the fragility of happiness."
"Despite his riches, the politician faced the woes of public scrutiny."
Woes is pronounced as /woʊz/ in US and UK English, with a long 'o' sound. The vowel starts with a rounded lip position and moves to a close-mid diphthong; the final 's' is voiced to blend into /z/. Place your lips in a rounded position for the /o/ part, then glide to an /ʊ/ like quality? No; keep it /oʊ/ as in 'go' before adding the /z/. Emphasize a clean, single syllable with even voicing. Audio reference: you’ll hear it as one tense-dip in many native speaker samples.
Common errors include pronouncing it as 'woes' with a short /o/ like 'woods' or stretching into /wooz/ with a voiceless /s/ at the end. Some learners replace /z/ with /s/ due to voicelessness, or insert an extra syllable by misplacing the glide. To correct: keep the diphthong /oʊ/ tight and end with a voiced /z/. Don’t shift to /ow/ or add an extra vowel after the /z/. Practice by saying ‘goes’ in isolation and then replace /g/ with nothing to focus on /woʊz/.
In US/UK, /woʊz/ is consistent, with the diphthong starting near /o/ and gliding to /ʊz/ approximated as /oʊ/ plus /z/. Australian English often preserves a slightly longer or tenser /oː/ before the /z/, sounding a touch more rounded and open, but not due to rhoticity changes. The main difference is vowel quality: US tends to be closer to /oʊ/ and UK similar; AU may have a marginally rounded, longer vowel before /z/. Stress remains on the single syllable.
The challenge lies in producing the precise diphthong /oʊ/ quickly and ending with a clear, voiced /z/. Some learners introduce a voiceless /s/ or misplace the tongue, which distorts the final consonant. The trick is to keep the jaw slightly open for the /o/ then glide smoothly to /ʊ/? Not; you should glide to /oʊ/ and finish with a voiced /z/. Another challenge is avoiding an extraneous vowel between /o/ and /z/—keep it as a tight glide into z.
Woes is a short, single-stress word with a diphthong that can be tricky for non-native speakers: ensuring the /oʊ/ is a single, continuous glide and not broken into two separate vowel sounds. The final /z/ must be voiced and attached to the preceding vowel without pausing. A common search query is about the silent letters or whether it sounds like 'woe' with an extra /z/. In practice, think: start with rounded lips, glide to a tight mid-high vowel, and vocalize the /z/ immediately.
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Woes originates from the Old English word wā (pain, misfortune) and wō, which conveyed sorrow or distress. The modern plural woes emerged as a formation from the Proto-Germanic *wōzōną, signaling multiple instances of distress. In Middle English, the spelling woe was used in the singular, with the plural woes becoming common as the language shifted toward standardization. The term is historically tied to expressions of suffering in poetry and religious writing, where lament and lamentation were central motifs. Its usage expanded from general misfortune to more specific emotional or moral distress. First known uses appear in epic and devotional literature of the 9th to 12th centuries, with later adoption into secular prose and poetry. By the Early Modern period, woes had become a familiar literary device to convey collective sorrow or lamentation, persisting in contemporary English to denote both formal lament and everyday sadness. Over time, its collocations broadened to include abstract or broad categories of hardship rather than a single event, reinforcing its role as a versatile term for distress.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Woes" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Woes" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Woes"
-oes sounds
-ows sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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