How to pronounce "cleavages" in English
CLEA·va·ges
Primary stress: clea
Hear native speakers say cleavages in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “cleavages”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
CLEA
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
va
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
ges
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
Primary emphasis falls on the first syllable ("CLEA"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "cleavages" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "cleavages is" sounds like "cleavages-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "cleavages" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“But we're just going to focus on a single set of cleavages, double-strand cleavage, with one spacer.”— MIT OpenCourseWareWatch clip
“So your basic guarantor is the crosscutting cleavages among the”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“cleavages between two different visions of feminism it's like on one side uh you”— Harvard UniversityWatch clip
“like those are um those are less artificial um cleavages right because”— StanfordWatch clip
“to give what he thought of as the major cleavages and drivers that shape global geopolitics.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“communal and sectarian cleavages so we see a majority pro has ba Shia community”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “cleavages”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
But we're just going to focus on a single set of cleavages, double-strand cleavage, with one spacer.
Hear it in context: “cleavages”
45 clipsThe English word “cleavages”. Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (clea · va · ges), with primary lexical stress placed on the 1st (initial) syllable (clea). Grammatically, “cleavages” functions as a noun. SayItVid indexes 45 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “cleavages” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from MIT OpenCourseWare, YaleCourses, Harvard University.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USMIT OpenCourseWareClip #1 · @42:27
“You can do more than one cut at once. But we're just going to focus on a single set of cleavages, double-strand cleavage, with one spacer. double-strand cleavage, with one spacer.”
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #2 · @34:27
“on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions." So your basic guarantor is the crosscutting cleavages among the So your basic guarantor is the crosscutting cleavages among the”
- 🇺🇸 USHarvard UniversityClip #3 · @69:51
“and who said look it's not so much uh a national law cage it's political cleavages between two different visions of feminism it's like on one side uh you have yeah this conservative natural social and sexual order and um and”
- 🇺🇸 USStanfordClip #4 · @70:13
“have different views about the future right and so so you can see but I feel like those are um those are less artificial um cleavages right because they're they're cleavages between People based B on their view of doing what's”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @2:02
“over 100 odd years ago purporting to give what he thought of as the major cleavages and drivers that shape global geopolitics. that shape global geopolitics.”
Definition & Meaning: “cleavages”
- The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft.
- The hollow or separation between a woman's breasts, especially as revealed by a low neckline.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Mineral cleavage is a property of cohesion. The cleavage of the particles themselves and its attitude with reference to the plane of the greatest and mean dimensional axes help to determine the perfection of rock cleavage. The more nearly parallel to the greater dimensions of the particle, and the better the mineral cleavage, the better the rock cleavage produced.”
- “Holonym: décolletage”
- “But we're just going to focus on a single set of cleavages, double-strand cleavage, with one spacer.”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “cleavages”
- Syllables:
- clea · va · ges
- Primary stress:
- clea
- Hear it in context
- cleavages
Words that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"cleavages" 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, "cleavages" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about cleavages
How many syllables are in “cleavages”?
“cleavages” has 3 syllables: clea · va · ges.
Where is the stress in “cleavages”?
The primary stress in “cleavages” is on “CLEA”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “cleavages” mean?
The act of cleaving or the state of being cleft.
How can I hear “cleavages” used in real sentences?
This page has 45 real-world video examples of “cleavages” 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 “cleavages”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).