HOW TO PRONOUNCE
initiative
/ˌɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
Press play to hear how to pronounce initiative.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:49
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Give the second syllable the main beat.
Stress the second syllable. The first ti sounds like sh; another pronunciation adds y after sh.
4 syllables · Stress on syllable 2
TRY SAYING
“The initiative began with a small workshop.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does initiative mean?
adjective
- In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
noun
- A beginning; a first move.
- A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
More meanings (3)
noun
- The ability to act first or on one's own.
- An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.
adjective
- (archaic) Serving to initiate.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˌɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
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.
But Farfrae had been so cursed quick in his movements as to give old-fashioned people in authority no chance of the initiative.
"Flatter your hearers."--I hinted delicately that all of these new reforms were due to the wisdom and initiative of our peerless trustees.
More book examples (3)
That little church stood for American bravery and initiative and self-sacrifice and romanticism in a way that well befitted good old Lexington.
To give power a great force of initiative,--that is, in plain English, to make absolutism omnipotent in order to realize a utopia.
By replacing individual initiative and responsibility by collective initiative and responsibility mankind would descend several steps on the scale of human values.