Pronunciation guide

How to pronounce xylophone

ZY-luh-fone - three syllables, stress on the 1st; 'xy-' is 'zy'

US/ˈzaɪləˌfoʊn/

zaɪləfoʊn

UK/ˈzaɪ.ləˌfəʊn/

zaɪləfəʊn

New to IPA symbols? Read the IPA guide.

Common mistake

The opening 'x' is a 'z' sound - 'ZY-luh-fone', not 'EX-il-oh-fone'.

What “xylophone” means

Any musical instrument (percussion idiophone) made of wooden slats graduated so as to make the sounds of the scale when struck with a small drumstick-like mallet; the standard Western concert xylophone or one of its derivatives.

To play a xylophone or to play something else as though it was a xylophone.

In a sentence

  • All I know how to play on my xylophone is "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Would you like to hear it?
  • The toddler banged happily on a toy xylophone.

Say it out loud a few times, then check yourself.

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Definitions and examples are derived from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, then edited by QuickPronounce. Pronunciation data draws on CMUdict.