adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɹəʊ.tɪk/
Received-Pronunciation:[ˈɹəʊ̯.t(h)ɪk]
General-American:/ˈɹoʊ.tɪk/
General-American:[ˈɹoʊ̯.ɾɪk]
South-Asia:/ˈr(h)o.ʈɪk/
South-Asia:[ɾ(ɦ)oː.ʈɪk]
rōʹtĭk
rhymes with -əʊtɪk
1
adj
Meaning 1
That allows the phoneme /ɹ/ even when not followed by a vowel, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); (of an English speaker) who speaks with such an accent.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
Examples
Rhotic speech is common in Ireland, Scotland, much of the United States, Canada, West Country England, and many parts of the north and west of England.
2009, Ingrid Rosenfelder, Rhoticity in educated Jamaican English, Thomas Hoffmann, Licia Siebers, World Englishes – Problems, Properties and Prospects: Selected Papers from the 13th IAWE Conference, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Contrary to “traditional” descriptions in the literature, Jamaican English cannot be characterized as predominantly rhotic, exhibiting an overall degree of rhoticity of approximately 20 per cent.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Having a sound quality associated with the letter R; having the sound of any of certain IPA symbols, including /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ɚ/, /ɝ/ and /r/.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
In the IPA, a rhotic vowel (aka R-coloured vowel, retroflex vowel, vocalic r or rhotacised vowel) is indicated by the affixing of a hook diacritic ( ˞ ) to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel. The rhotic consonants are /r/, /ɾ/, /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ʀ/, /ʁ/, /ɽ/ and /ɺ/.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: retroflex
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A rhotic consonant or rhotic vowel (R-coloured vowel).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
2012, Rebeka Campos-Astorkiza, 5: The Phonemes of Spanish, José Ignacio Hualde, Antxon Olarrea, Erin O'Rourke (editors), The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley-Blackwell), page 100, Spanish also has two rhotics, a tap /ɾ/(vibrante simple) and a trill /r/(vibrante múltiple).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Back-formation from rhotacism, coined in 1968 by John C. Wells.
Across languages
Translations
4 source translations are retained for this English entry.
