How to pronounce "director" in English
dəˈrɛktər
də·REK·tər
Primary stress: REK
Hear native speakers say director in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “director”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
də
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
REK
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
tər
Neutral schwa (⁄ə⁄): relaxed jaw, brief unstressed breath.
Primary emphasis falls on the second syllable ("REK"). 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 "director" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "director is" sounds like "director-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "director" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“director obviously but he was involved in everything including the casting of Arty and something about he and I seemed”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“director of anti-war. com, co-host of Provoked, and host of the Scott Horton Show on which he has done”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“director and she's staring at nine different faces you know she's not only hearing what I'm saying she's hearing”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“Director David Cromer has-- talks about part of the magic of the show is this active waiting--”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“director yeah it was Tex you yeah like I got a text from Jordan Peele and I'm”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“Director of the International Business Center in the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “director”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
director obviously but he was involved in everything including the casting of Arty and something about he and I seemed
Hear it in context: “director”
22,240 clipsThe English word “director” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as dəˈrɛktər (phonetic respelling: də-REK-tər). Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (də · REK · tər), with primary lexical stress placed on the 2nd syllable (REK). Grammatically, “director” functions as a noun. SayItVid indexes 22,240 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “director” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USClip #1 · @5:49
“Jud's brilliance as a casting. He's the director obviously but he was involved in everything including the casting of Arty and something about he and I seemed in everything including the casting of”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #2 · @0:06
“Libertarian Institute, editorial director of anti-war. com, co-host of Provoked, and host of the Scott Horton Show on which he has done co-host of Provoked, and host of the”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #3 · @36:03
“literally grown up on the knee of my director and she's staring at nine different faces you know she's not only hearing what I'm saying she's hearing different faces you know she's not only”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @36:44
“who play music and instruments, themselves, as well. Director David Cromer has-- talks about part of the magic of the show is this active waiting-- talks about part of the magic of the show”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #5 · @2:52
“thing where it's like oh yeah he's our director yeah it was Tex you yeah like I got a text from Jordan Peele and I'm got a text from Jordan Peele and I'm”
Definition & Meaning: “director”
- One who directs; the person in charge of managing a department or directorate (e.g., director of engineering), project, or production (as in a show or film, e.g., film director).
- A member of a board of directors.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Francis Gurry is director of WIPO.”
- “[...] the confusion between directors who know nothing and managers who know everything [...].”
- “director obviously but he was involved in everything including the casting of Arty and something about he and I seemed”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “director”
- Pronunciation:
- də-REK-tər
- Syllables:
- də · REK · tər
- Written Hyphenation:
- di · rec · tor
- Primary stress:
- REK
- IPA:
- dəˈrɛktər
- Hear it in context
- director
Synonyms: “director”
Hear words related in meaning to “director” in real video clips:
Words that Rhyme with “director”
-ɛktərWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"director" (⁄dəˈrɛktər⁄) 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, "director" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about director
How do you pronounce “director”?
“director” is pronounced ⁄dəˈrɛktər⁄ (də-REK-tər). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “director”?
“director” has 3 syllables: də · REK · tər.
Where is the stress in “director”?
The primary stress in “director” is on “REK”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “director” mean?
One who directs; the person in charge of managing a department or directorate (e.g., director of engineering), project, or production (as in a show or film, e.g., film director).
How can I hear “director” used in real sentences?
This page has 22240 real-world video examples of “director” 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 “director”?
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⁄).