HOW TO PRONOUNCE
harbinger
/ˈhɑɹbɪndʒɚ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:49
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Stress “har” and use a soft “g.”
Harbinger has three syllables, with the first strongest. The g near the end sounds like j in jam, so keep it distinct from a hard g when finishing the word.
3 syllables · Stress on syllable 1
TRY SAYING
“The early flowers were a harbinger of spring.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does harbinger mean?
noun
- A person or thing that foreshadows or foretells the coming of someone or something.
verb
- To announce or precede; to be a harbinger of.
More meanings (1)
noun
- (obsolete) One who provides lodgings; especially, the officer of the English royal household who formerly preceded the court when travelling, to provide and prepare lodgings.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈhɑɹbɪndʒɚ/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
I was the harbinger of sudden departures, but there was nothing in the world sudden enough to take Dominic unawares.
On inquiry, it proved that such was the case, and that a wandering fiddler was the unfailing harbinger of the engineer.
More book examples (3)
Is there no more than a symbol of rural work in the bright radiance of the starry Andromeda, the harbinger of gentle spring?
If I don't send you an actual declaration of war in this letter, at least you perceive I am the harbinger of it.
The top, however, of a heavy bank of clouds, which remained almost constantly in one position, was the most promising sign, and eventually turned out a true harbinger.