Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dead-end

/ˈdɛdɛnd/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.07 in modern English

Syllables: dead--end
IPA: /ˈdɛdɛnd/

10

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Going nowhere; blocked.

verb

To come to a dead-end.

American usage

verb

To come to nothing; to reach a hopeless situation.

noun

Alternative spelling of dead end: a road with no exit.

noun

Alternative spelling of dead end: a position that offers no hope of progress.

Example Sentences

"a dead-end street"
"I felt trapped in a dead-end job."
"In a West End town, a dead end world / The East End boys and West End girls"
"Livin' in this house with no furnace, unfurnished / And I'm sick of workin' dead-end jobs with lame pay"
"[...] as it approached Platform 9 at Moorgate, the train, which ought to have been going at 15 miles an hour, was travelling at 35 m.p.h., and apparently accelerating. It smashed into the head wall of the 60-foot dead-end tunnel because, as we have seen, the Metropolitan's plans to extend the line south had come to nothing."
"So where did all the dead-end jobs come from in the first place?"

Usage

American usage

Inflected Forms

more dead-end (comparative) most dead-end (superlative) deadend (alternative) dead-ends (present, singular) dead-ending (participle, present) dead-ended (participle, past) dead-ended (past) dead-ends (plural)

Rhymes With

end high-end friend send spend recommend tend attend trend defend extend pretend

Questions

How do you pronounce dead-end?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɛdɛnd/.
What does dead-end mean?: Going nowhere; blocked.

How to pronounce dead-end

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dead-end”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɛdɛnd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dead-end”.
Repeat and practice — Say “dead-end” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.