How to pronounce "importun" in English
ˌɪm.pɔːrˈtuːn
im·por·TOON
Primary stress: TOON
Hear native speakers say importun in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “importun”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
im
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
por
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
TOON
Tense long vowel with sustained acoustic resonance.
Primary emphasis falls on the third syllable ("TOON"). 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 "importun" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "importun is" sounds like "importun-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "importun" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“and for having great colleagues to share our importune work with everyday along with some folks in career services”— Harvard UniversityWatch clip
“importune turda and adam caste in brown an xzibit and a london and nineteen”— StanfordWatch clip
“be as simple as uh being more willing to delete accounts which let's be clear that's going to mean that others will be more willing to try to importune Twitter”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “importun”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
and for having great colleagues to share our importune work with everyday along with some folks in career services
Hear it in context: “importun”
7 clipsThe English word “importun” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as ˌɪm.pɔːrˈtuːn (phonetic respelling: im-por-TOON). Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (im · por · TOON), with primary lexical stress placed on the 3rd syllable (TOON). Grammatically, “importun” functions as a verb. SayItVid indexes 7 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “importun” in natural connected speech across American (US: 3 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from Harvard University, Stanford.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (3 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USHarvard UniversityClip #1 · @0:44
“having a wonderful place to work and for having great colleagues to share our importune work with everyday along with some folks in career services to share”
- 🇺🇸 USStanfordClip #2 · @45:41
“working man this to runaways war and importune turda and adam caste in brown an xzibit and a london and nineteen an xzibit and a london and nineteen”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #3 · @4:00
“taking a heavier hand at intervening when discussions get rough and it might be as simple as uh being more willing to delete accounts which let's be clear that's going to mean that others will be more willing to try to importune Twitter that's going to mean that others will be more willing to try to importune Twitter”
Definition & Meaning: “importun”
- To harass someone persistently for or to do something.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Sales representatives continue to importune potential clients with endless phone calls.”
- “and for having great colleagues to share our importune work with everyday along with some folks in career services”
- “importune turda and adam caste in brown an xzibit and a london and nineteen”
Pronounce: “importun”
- Pronunciation:
- im-por-TOON
- Syllables:
- im · por · TOON
- Written Hyphenation:
- im · por · tun
- Primary stress:
- TOON
- IPA:
- ˌɪm.pɔːrˈtuːn
- Hear it in context
- importun
Words that Rhyme with “importun”
-unWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"importun" (⁄ˌɪm.pɔːrˈtuːn⁄) 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, "importun" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about importun
How do you pronounce “importun”?
“importun” is pronounced ⁄ˌɪm.pɔːrˈtuːn⁄ (im-por-TOON). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “importun”?
“importun” has 3 syllables: im · por · TOON.
Where is the stress in “importun”?
The primary stress in “importun” is on “TOON”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “importun” mean?
To harass someone persistently for or to do something.
How can I hear “importun” used in real sentences?
This page has 7 real-world video examples of “importun” 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 “importun”?
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⁄).