a speech sound that is made by pushing air out through a small space between your teeth and your tongue or lips, or between your tongue and palate (=the inside upper part of your mouth). ‘F’, ‘z’, and ‘th’ are fricatives.
Synonyms and related words
Terms in phonetics
affricate
alveolar
articulator
derived word
fricative
adjective
Synonyms and related words
Terms in phonetics
affricate
alveolar
articulator
fricative
noun countable linguistics
US /ˈfrɪkətɪv/
Word Forms
singular
fricative
plural
fricatives
DEFINITIONS1
1
a speech sound that is made by pushing air out through a small space between your teeth and your tongue or lips, or between your tongue and palate (=the inside upper part of your mouth). “F,” “z,” and “th” are fricatives.