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PlainSpell

articulate

/ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt/verb, adjective, noun

articulate is spelled A-R-T-I-C-U-L-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, articulate means “To make clear or effective” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in articulate?

Letters10: A-R-T-I-C-U-L-A-T-E
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is articulate?

Articulate appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce articulate?

  • UK /ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.leɪt/
  • US /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.leɪt/

As an adjective (“Clear; effective”): /ɑː(ɹ)ˈtɪk.jʊ.lət/, /ɑːɹˈtɪk.jə.lət/.

Articulate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-articulate-verb.ogg, En-gb-articulate-verb.ogg, En-us-articulate-adj.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with articulate?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as articulate from its last stressed vowel (/ɪkjəleɪt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of articulate

  • articulates present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • articulating participle, present
  • articulated participle, past
  • more articulate comparative
  • most articulate superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does articulate mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To make clear or effective.

  2. 2

    To speak clearly; to enunciate.

    I wish he’d articulate his words more clearly.

  3. 3

    To explain; to put into words; to make something specific.

    I like this painting, but I can’t articulate why.

  4. 4

    To bend or hinge something at intervals, or to allow or build something so that it can bend.

    an articulated bus

  5. 5

    To attack a note, as by tonguing, slurring, bowing, etc.

    Articulate that passage heavily.

  6. 6

    To form a joint or connect by joints.

    The lower jaw articulates with the skull at the temporomandibular joint.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo treat or make terms.

adjective

  1. 1

    Clear; effective.

  2. 2

    Speaking in a clear and effective manner; having both good articulation and good elocution.

    She’s a bright, articulate young woman.

  3. 3

    Consisting of segments united by joints.

    jointed articulate animals

  4. 4

    Distinctly marked off.

    an articulate period in history

  5. 5

    obsoleteExpressed in articles or in separate items or particulars.

  6. 6

    obsoleteRelated to human speech, as distinct from the vocalisation of animals.

  7. 7

    obsoleteArticulated (all senses).

noun

  1. 1

    An animal of the subkingdom Articulata.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Articulate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frencharticuler (to make clear), formuler (to explain), clair (clear, effective), éloquent (speaking in a clear or effective manner), articulé (able to bend or hinge at certain points or…)
Germanartikulieren (to make clear), ausdrücken (to explain), klar, effektiv (clear, effective), redegewandt (speaking in a clear or effective manner), betonen (music: to attack a note)
Portuguesearticular (to make clear), articulado (clear, effective), articulável (able to bend or hinge at certain points or…)
Spanishclaro (clear, effective), elocuente (speaking in a clear or effective manner), articulado (able to bend or hinge at certain points or…), articular, vocalizar (to speak clearly), articularse (anatomy: to form a joint)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does articulate come from?

The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after articulate