Consonant
noun
Any letter of the alphabet that is not a vowel.
In the word 'street', 's', 't', 'r' and 't' are consonants.
Often appears as...
- double consonant
- final consonant
adjective
Being in agreement or consistent.
Your actions should be consonant with your words.
Often appears as...
- consonant with
- consonant to
Usage tips
Formal, Approving
Academic
noun
In music, a type of interval or chord that sounds stable and does not need to be resolved.
The intervals of a third and a sixth are considered consonant in Western music.
Often appears as...
- consonant interval
- consonant chord
Usage tips
Technical
noun
Any letter of the alphabet that is not a vowel.
In the word 'street', 's', 't', 'r' and 't' are consonants.
Often appears as...
- double consonant
- final consonant
adjective
Being in agreement or consistent.
Your actions should be consonant with your words.
Often appears as...
- consonant with
- consonant to
Usage tips
Formal, Approving
Academic
noun
In music, a type of interval or chord that sounds stable and does not need to be resolved.
The intervals of a third and a sixth are considered consonant in Western music.
Often appears as...
- consonant interval
- consonant chord
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Spelling Traps
Certain consonant sounds can be spelled in various ways, which might confuse learners.
The 'k' sound can be spelled as 'c', 'k', 'ck', or 'ch' as in 'cat', 'kite', 'duck', and 'chorus'.
Pro Tip 2/3Consonant Blends
Some English words start or end with two or more consonants, called blends, which you'll learn to recognize.
'Street' begins with the blend 'str', while 'last' ends with 'st'.
Pro Tip 3/3Silent Letters
Not all consonants are spoken. Some words contain consonants that remain silent.
In 'knee', the 'k' is silent.
Compare with
agreeablecompatibleconcordantconsistentcorrespondharmonioushomogeneousuniform
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Video examples
Daniel Raven-Ellison:...
think of our bodies as landscapes that can be explored that is sensitive just in the same way that landscapes physical landscapes is constantly changing our bodies are - and there's a prejudice within geography to course anything makes big scales consonants borders
Video examples
Why nations should...
And it's the nationalism of an idea that essentially says you can endure differences of caste, creed, color, culture, cuisine, custom and costume, consonant, for that matter, and still rally around a consensus. And the consensus is of a very simple principle,
Video examples
Nancy Etcoff: Happiness...
rather than plain faces. They like to listen to consonant melodies instead of dissonant melodies. Babies really are born with a lot of innate pleasures. There was once a statement made by a psychologist that said that 80 percent of the pursuit of happiness
Video examples
Rupal Patel: Synthetic...
which is the vibrations generated by your voice box, which are then pushed through the rest of the vocal tract. These are the chambers of your head and neck that vibrate, and they actually filter that source sound to produce consonants and vowels.
Video examples
What does the universe...
It may sound like a silly question, but have you ever wondered why it is that certain notes, when played together, sound relatively pleasing or consonant, such as these two -- while others are a lot more tense or dissonant, such as these two.
Video examples
The pleasure of poetic...
and invites us to try our own voices in echoing it. Similarly, consonance is the repetition of like consonant sounds, such as the "l" and "th" in, "So long lives this and this gives life to thee." In fact, this type of specific consonance,
Video examples
4 reasons to learn a new...
What do those things have in common? All those things have in common the consonants sitting in the middle like pillars. They stay still, and the vowels dance around the consonants. Who wouldn't want to roll that around in their mouths?
Video examples
The race to decode a...
However, he did make two accurate the tablets were administrative records, and the script was a syllabary, where each symbol represented both a consonant and a vowel, mixed with characters that each represented a whole word.
Video examples
In praise of conflict PIPE...
in ways that are least threatening to, most consonant with their commercial interests. So obesity becomes a problem of individual decision-making, of personal behavior, personal responsibility and lack of physical activity.
Video examples
"Interpassion" /...
and we make the saddle. I appreciate less the consonants of those we haven't sounded. I'm pressing the buzzer; I am interpassionate. Interpassion, Interpassion, Interpassion.
Video examples
Daniel Raven-Ellison:...
think of our bodies as landscapes that can be explored that is sensitive just in the same way that landscapes physical landscapes is constantly changing our bodies are - and there's a prejudice within geography to course anything makes big scales consonants borders
Video examples
Why nations should...
And it's the nationalism of an idea that essentially says you can endure differences of caste, creed, color, culture, cuisine, custom and costume, consonant, for that matter, and still rally around a consensus. And the consensus is of a very simple principle,
Video examples
Nancy Etcoff: Happiness...
rather than plain faces. They like to listen to consonant melodies instead of dissonant melodies. Babies really are born with a lot of innate pleasures. There was once a statement made by a psychologist that said that 80 percent of the pursuit of happiness
Video examples
Rupal Patel: Synthetic...
which is the vibrations generated by your voice box, which are then pushed through the rest of the vocal tract. These are the chambers of your head and neck that vibrate, and they actually filter that source sound to produce consonants and vowels.
Video examples
What does the universe...
It may sound like a silly question, but have you ever wondered why it is that certain notes, when played together, sound relatively pleasing or consonant, such as these two -- while others are a lot more tense or dissonant, such as these two.
Video examples
The pleasure of poetic...
and invites us to try our own voices in echoing it. Similarly, consonance is the repetition of like consonant sounds, such as the "l" and "th" in, "So long lives this and this gives life to thee." In fact, this type of specific consonance,
Video examples
4 reasons to learn a new...
What do those things have in common? All those things have in common the consonants sitting in the middle like pillars. They stay still, and the vowels dance around the consonants. Who wouldn't want to roll that around in their mouths?
Video examples
The race to decode a...
However, he did make two accurate the tablets were administrative records, and the script was a syllabary, where each symbol represented both a consonant and a vowel, mixed with characters that each represented a whole word.
Video examples
In praise of conflict PIPE...
in ways that are least threatening to, most consonant with their commercial interests. So obesity becomes a problem of individual decision-making, of personal behavior, personal responsibility and lack of physical activity.
Video examples
"Interpassion" /...
and we make the saddle. I appreciate less the consonants of those we haven't sounded. I'm pressing the buzzer; I am interpassionate. Interpassion, Interpassion, Interpassion.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Ron Rash
American Poet
On the last drafts, I focus on the words themselves, including the rub of vowels and consonants, stressed and unstressed syllables. Yet even at this stage I'm often surprised. A different ending or a new character shows up and I'm back to where I began, letting the story happen, just trying to stay out of the way.
Quote examples
Temple Grandin
American Educator
I had problems getting my words out. If people spoke directly to me, I understood what they said. But when the grownups got to yakking really fast by themselves, it just sounded like 'oi oi.' I thought grownups had a separate language. I've now figured out I was not hearing the hard consonant sounds.
Quote examples
Isaac Newton
English Mathematician
We are certainly not to relinquish the evidence of experiments for the sake of dreams and vain fictions of our own devising; nor are we to recede from the analogy of Nature, which is wont to be simple and always consonant to itself.
Quote examples
Christina Applegate
American Actress
I started doing radio commercials for Kmart when I was 4. They had to splice all my consonants together because I couldn't talk very well. But these jobs helped my mother and me put food on the table. It took the two of us working.
Quote examples
Martin Van Buren
American President
We remain at peace with all nations, and no efforts on my part consistent with the preservation of our rights and the honor of the country shall be spared to maintain a position so consonant to our institutions.
Quote examples
Daveed Diggs
American Actor
The tricky thing about fast raps is not really the delivery of them; it's the writing of them, with consonants close enough together that you don't trip up over them.
Quote examples
David Mitchell
English Novelist
Y' is about the weakest letter of all. 'Y' can't make up its mind if it's a vowel or a consonant, can it?
Quote examples
Florian Schneider
German Musician
Our method of speaking is interrupted, hard-edged... a lot of consonants and noises.
Quote examples
Jose Carreras
Spanish Musician
It is not easy for me to sing consonants, and I am sorry if I don't sing the 'S'.
Quote examples
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
English Poet
Brute animals have the vowel sounds; man only can utter consonants.
Quote examples
Ron Rash
American Poet
On the last drafts, I focus on the words themselves, including the rub of vowels and consonants, stressed and unstressed syllables. Yet even at this stage I'm often surprised. A different ending or a new character shows up and I'm back to where I began, letting the story happen, just trying to stay out of the way.
Quote examples
Temple Grandin
American Educator
I had problems getting my words out. If people spoke directly to me, I understood what they said. But when the grownups got to yakking really fast by themselves, it just sounded like 'oi oi.' I thought grownups had a separate language. I've now figured out I was not hearing the hard consonant sounds.
Quote examples
Isaac Newton
English Mathematician
We are certainly not to relinquish the evidence of experiments for the sake of dreams and vain fictions of our own devising; nor are we to recede from the analogy of Nature, which is wont to be simple and always consonant to itself.
Quote examples
Christina Applegate
American Actress
I started doing radio commercials for Kmart when I was 4. They had to splice all my consonants together because I couldn't talk very well. But these jobs helped my mother and me put food on the table. It took the two of us working.
Quote examples
Martin Van Buren
American President
We remain at peace with all nations, and no efforts on my part consistent with the preservation of our rights and the honor of the country shall be spared to maintain a position so consonant to our institutions.
Quote examples
Daveed Diggs
American Actor
The tricky thing about fast raps is not really the delivery of them; it's the writing of them, with consonants close enough together that you don't trip up over them.
Quote examples
David Mitchell
English Novelist
Y' is about the weakest letter of all. 'Y' can't make up its mind if it's a vowel or a consonant, can it?
Quote examples
Florian Schneider
German Musician
Our method of speaking is interrupted, hard-edged... a lot of consonants and noises.
Quote examples
Jose Carreras
Spanish Musician
It is not easy for me to sing consonants, and I am sorry if I don't sing the 'S'.
Quote examples
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
English Poet
Brute animals have the vowel sounds; man only can utter consonants.
Example 1 of 10
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