Skip to content
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

vulnerable

/ˈvʌlnɚəbəl/

Press play to hear how to pronounce vulnerable.

American Pronunciation Guide · 0:33
Watch on YouTube ↗
LISTEN FOR THIS

VUL-ner-uh-buhl: keep the first l before n.

The first vowel is the one in “cup.” The remaining syllables are light, with an r-colored vowel after n and a soft “buhl” at the end.

4 syllables · Stress on syllable 1

TRY SAYING
The exposed seedlings were vulnerable to frost.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

What does vulnerable mean?

adjective

  1. More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
  2. Open to disclosing one's inner thoughts and feelings, acting in spite of one's instinct to self-preservation.
  3. More likely to be exposed to malicious programs or viruses.
More meanings (1)

adjective

  1. at moderate risk of extinction though not quite endangered.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈvʌlnɚəbəl/

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.

It proved to be of as vulnerable a constitution as its brothers and sisters, for it lasted merely a year.
Victor MacClureShe Stands AccusedProject Gutenberg ebook #488
In order to strike these vulnerable points in its political existence, the country must be agitated to its very centre.
Carl von ClausewitzOn WarTranslated by J. J. (James John) GrahamProject Gutenberg ebook #1946
More book examples (3)
Malaysia's high export dependence leaves it vulnerable to a recession in the OECD countries or a fall in world commodity prices.
United States. Central Intelligence AgencyThe 1991 CIA World FactbookProject Gutenberg ebook #25
But how to reach them, now that I had found the only vulnerable spot in their mighty prison, was still a baffling riddle.
Edgar Rice BurroughsThe warlord of MarsProject Gutenberg ebook #68
The vulnerable point is thus easily accessible to the sting, despite the creature's posture of defence, in which it contracts and coils up.
Jean-Henri FabreMore Hunting WaspsTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosProject Gutenberg ebook #3462