1. to remove stress or emphasis from a syllable or word
Usage: linguistics; phonetics

Examples

• In English, we typically unstress function words like ‘the’ and ‘of’ in connected speech.
• The linguist explained how to unstress certain syllables to achieve natural rhythm.
• When speaking quickly, speakers often unstress vowels in unstressed syllables.
• The pronunciation guide showed which syllables to stress and which to unstress.
• Poetry sometimes requires you to unstress normally emphasized words for meter.