How to pronounce "breathlessness" in English
breat·hles·sness
Hear native speakers say breathlessness in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “breathlessness”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
breat
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
hles
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
sness
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
Keep the vowel length balanced, placing subtle emphasis on the root morpheme according to standard conversational rhythm.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Many learners substitute "th" with "s", "z", "t", or "d".
How Native Speakers Say It: Place the flat blade of your tongue lightly between your upper and lower incisors. Blow air gently without vocal chord vibration to produce the unvoiced ⁄θ⁄ sound.
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "breathlessness" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "breathlessness is" sounds like "breathlessness-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "breathlessness" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“breathlessness, struggling to breathe, almost breathing through a pinhole, which you can see here.”— TEDx TalksWatch clip
“When breathlessness set in, he’d burn powders that filled the space with smoke and fumes.”— TED-EdWatch clip
“to feel breathlessness after they get above about 20 liters of ventilation so”— StanfordWatch clip
“of breathlessness uh that comes from having to do a lot of reading aloud is enough i don't know if you've ever”— Harvard UniversityWatch clip
“doctor about coughs breathlessness and fever this small community clinic in Delhi is seeing between 30 to 40 patients with”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“episodes of breathlessness it's really painful often I have to handle it by myself because I can't make”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “breathlessness”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
breathlessness, struggling to breathe, almost breathing through a pinhole, which you can see here.
Hear it in context: “breathlessness”
78 clipsThe English word “breathlessness”. Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (breat · hles · sness). Grammatically, “breathlessness” functions as a noun. SayItVid indexes 78 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “breathlessness” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from TEDx Talks, TED-Ed, Stanford.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USTEDx TalksClip #1 · @8:16
“in with breathlessness, struggling to breathe, almost breathing through a pinhole, which you can see here. That's his only almost breathing through a pinhole,”
- 🇺🇸 USTED-EdClip #2 · @0:21
“At the time, there weren’t great treatments. When breathlessness set in, he’d burn powders that filled the space with smoke and fumes. he’d burn powders that filled the space with smoke and fumes.”
- 🇺🇸 USStanfordClip #3 · @74:26
“liters for 16 fold higher than basal oxygen consumption so most people begin to feel breathlessness after they get above about 20 liters of ventilation so you can increase it six-fold or let's say four or five fold anyway without”
- 🇺🇸 USHarvard UniversityClip #4 · @4:21
“usually um just the text itself and the sound of the voices and the kind of breathlessness uh that comes from having to do a lot of reading aloud is enough i don't know if you've ever reading aloud is enough i don't know if you've ever”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @2:39
“crowded again people are once more queuing up to see a doctor about coughs breathlessness and fever this small community clinic in Delhi is seeing between 30 to 40 patients with this small community clinic in Delhi is seeing between 30 to 40 patients with”
Definition & Meaning: “breathlessness”
- The state of being breathless or out of breath, especially merely temporarily from exertion.
- Difficult or labored breathing, as a symptom or sign of a medical condition.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Climbing eight flights of stairs while the elevator is out of service can easily produce some breathlessness in people whose physical fitness is otherwise not noticeably impaired.”
- “Since he'd entered the urgent care center, his breathlessness had only gotten worse, even though he'd been sitting quietly.”
- “breathlessness, struggling to breathe, almost breathing through a pinhole, which you can see here. That's his only”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “breathlessness”
- Syllables:
- breat · hles · sness
- Hear it in context
- breathlessness
Synonyms: “breathlessness”
Hear words related in meaning to “breathlessness” in real video clips:
Words that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"breathlessness" has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "breathlessness" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about breathlessness
How many syllables are in “breathlessness”?
“breathlessness” has 3 syllables: breat · hles · sness.
What does “breathlessness” mean?
The state of being breathless or out of breath, especially merely temporarily from exertion.
How can I hear “breathlessness” used in real sentences?
This page has 78 real-world video examples of “breathlessness” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “breathlessness”?
Many learners substitute "th" with "s", "z", "t", or "d". Place the flat blade of your tongue lightly between your upper and lower incisors. Blow air gently without vocal chord vibration to produce the unvoiced ⁄θ⁄ sound.