Pronunciation · Science and learning

How to pronounce molybdenum

Molybdenum is stressed on "LIB" in CMUdict, muh-LIB-dih-num (M AH0 L IH1 B D IH0 N AH0 M), with both the b and the d sounded.

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The dictionary sound sequence

CMUdict lists this North American English pronunciation for molybdenum. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

Dictionary variant 1

M AH0 L IH1 B D IH0 N AH0 M

Syllable estimate: 4 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Check molybdenum in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio.

Syllable counts come from vowel tokens; CMUdict does not supply syllable boundaries here. Variant order follows the dictionary and does not rank correctness. This lexicon does not represent every accent or context.

Use molybdenum in context

Molybdenum is a metal named in chemistry classes, steel specs and soil reports. Its cluster of consonants leads readers to drop a syllable or stress the first one. All four syllables are sounded, with the weight on the second.

Molybdenum is added to steel to make it stronger at high heat.
The soil test showed low levels of molybdenum.

Read the sound tokens

Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of molybdenum. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A).

Msound in meconsonant

AHsound in hutvowel

Lsound in leeconsonant

IHsound in itvowel

Bsound in beconsonant

Dsound in deeconsonant

Nsound in kneeconsonant

Take it to your next recording

Make an audition worksheet

Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. The two original sentences retain their normal spelling; this worksheet helps you review a recording rather than forcing a speech engine to use phonemes.

Worksheet pronunciation variant

Your plain-text audition worksheet

How to pronounce molybdenum

Word: molybdenum
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: M AH0 L IH1 B D IH0 N AH0 M
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 4
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
Molybdenum is added to steel to make it stronger at high heat.
The soil test showed low levels of molybdenum.

REVIEW CHECKLIST
[ ] Read both sentences naturally; keep the source wording.
[ ] Compare the intended pronunciation with the selected dictionary variant.
[ ] Listen for vowel sounds, consonants, and word stress in context.
[ ] Check with a speaker or another dictionary when accent or meaning matters.
[ ] Generate and listen to a short Murmur sample before exporting the full script.

Practice note: Go slowly at first: muh-LIB, then dih-num, with the b and d as two separate taps. Speed up only once all four beats are steady. Most slips happen when the b gets swallowed.

CMUdict is a North American English lexicon, not a recording or a complete accent guide.
Variant order is dictionary order; it is not a ranking of correctness.
Source: https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict
Source commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690
License: https://www.murmurtts.com/downloads/cmudict-license.txt
Reference: https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/molybdenum

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Dictionary source

The phonemes on this page come from CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters.

CMUdict README · Included dictionary license

Source version and checksum

Commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690

Dictionary SHA-256: 81917843c7f44ce2b094ac63873c2c7a4cf802040792c455ba3ca406891c3d22

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