Pronunciation · Creative work

How to pronounce plethora

Plethora is PLETH-er-uh in CMUdict (P L EH1 TH ER0 AH0), stressed on the first syllable; pluh-THOR-uh is listed as a second form.

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The dictionary sound sequence

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

Dictionary variant 1

P L EH1 TH ER0 AH0

Syllable estimate: 3 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Dictionary variant 2

P L AH0 TH AO1 R AH0

Syllable estimate: 3 vowel nuclei
Primary stress: 2nd vowel position

Check plethora 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 plethora in context

Plethora means a large amount, often more than needed, and it is common in reports, reviews and presentations. Many speakers put the stress on the second syllable, and that form sits second in CMUdict behind first-syllable stress.

The menu offers a plethora of vegetarian dishes.
We received a plethora of applications for one job.

Read the sound tokens

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

Psound in peeconsonant

Lsound in leeconsonant

EHsound in Edvowel

THsound in thetaconsonant

ERsound in hurtvowel

AHsound in hutvowel

AOsound in oughtvowel

Rsound in readconsonant

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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 plethora

Word: plethora
Dictionary variant: 1 of 2
CMUdict ARPABET: P L EH1 TH ER0 AH0
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 3
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
The menu offers a plethora of vegetarian dishes.
We received a plethora of applications for one job.

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: PLETH should carry the weight in the first form, with the rest quick and light. If you use the second form, stress THOR and keep it there.

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/plethora

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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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