HOW TO PRONOUNCE
surplus
/ˈsɝpləs/
Press play to hear how to pronounce surplus.
American Pronunciation Guide · 1:03
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
LISTEN FOR THIS
Keep the main beat on “sur.”
Use two syllables, beginning with a stressed r-colored vowel. Keep p and l together before the light final vowel, and finish with an unvoiced s.
2 syllables · Stress on syllable 1
TRY SAYING
“The inventory showed a surplus of paper.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does surplus mean?
noun
- That which remains when use or need is satisfied, or when a limit is reached; excess; overplus; overage.
- Specifically, an amount in the public treasury at any time greater than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government.
- The remainder of a fund appropriated for a particular purpose.
More meanings (3)
noun
- assets left after liabilities and debts, including capital stock have been deducted.
adjective
- Being or constituting a surplus; more than sufficient.
verb
- To treat as surplus to requirements; to sell off or dismiss from employment, etc.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈsɝpləs/
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.
The surplus he holds merely as custodian, and it is passed on to the younger members of the community as necessity demands.
While a large annual surplus of revenue may invite waste and extravagance, inadequate revenue creates distrust and undermines public and private credit.
More book examples (3)
While the table given above will permit no extravagance, no overloading of stomachs, it will be noticed that there is no surplus.
He pointed out that capitalistic power was dependent upon "the reserve army of labor," surplus labor, and a wide margin of unemployment.
In his later years he had the kind and generous plan of dividing his surplus at the year's end among his children.