How to Pronounce Severe Dengue

Say it like this: seh-VEER DENG-ee. The first word rhymes with 'revere,' and the second word sounds like 'deng' (rhymes with 'thing') followed by 'ee.' The stress falls on the first syllable of 'severe' and the first syllable of 'dengue,' so you emphasize seh-VEER and DENG.

Many people stress the wrong syllable and say 'sev-EER' instead of 'SEV-ere,' or they pronounce dengue as 'DEN-gway' instead of 'DENG-ee.' Remember: the stress belongs on the first syllable of each word, and dengue ends with an 'ee' sound, not 'way.'

Break it into four syllables: se-VERE den-GUE. 'Severe' has two syllables with stress on the second part of the word, and 'dengue' also has two syllables with stress on the first part. Together it's: se-VEER / DENG-ee.

'Severe' is a word you probably already know—it means very serious, extreme, or intense. When something is severe, it's not mild or minor; it's at the high end of how bad something can be.

Dengue is the name of an infection transmitted by mosquitoes. The word comes from Spanish and African language roots and doesn't have a simple translation. It's a borrowed word that entered English through medical and tropical medicine terminology.

'Severe Dengue' means dengue that has become very serious or life-threatening, rather than mild or moderate. It describes a dangerous stage of dengue infection that requires emergency hospital care.

You might hear 'dengue fever' (the basic infection), 'dengue hemorrhagic fever,' and 'dengue shock syndrome.' These terms all relate to different stages or types of dengue. They all use 'dengue' pronounced the same way: DENG-ee.

Here's an example: 'The doctor explained that the patient's condition had progressed from dengue to Severe Dengue.' This shows that Severe Dengue is a worsened version of the original infection.