Meaning & use
diphthong
A complex speech sound formed by gliding from one vowel sound to another within the same syllable.
See it in a sentence
The word "coin" contains a diphthong made of the vowel sounds "o" and "i."
English learners often struggle to distinguish the diphthong in "loud" from a single long vowel.
A note on using this word
Often misspelled "dipthong"; the correct spelling keeps the "ph" from the Greek root meaning "sound."
Words with a similar meaning
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