Home › Glossary › Letter V

vouchsafes

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Grants or condescends to give something, often graciously or as a favor.

Detailed Definition
To vouchsafe something is to give or allow it in a gracious, sometimes superior, way. The word is common in older poetry and formal writing, but it is less familiar in modern English.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise” uses vouchsafes for graciously grants or condescends to give; the verb often suggests that a superior bestows a favor on someone below; “The moon vouchsafes one silver path” personifies the moon as sparing in its gift; “He vouchsafed no answer” means he deigned to give none
Additional Notes
The verb appears in an older, formal sense in the line, and many readers would pause over 'vouchsafes'.; Found in the poem, On Tea by Edmund Waller
Also Known As
grants bestows confers assures
Skip to main content