How to Pronounce Lidocaine

Lidocaine is pronounced LY-doh-kayn. The first syllable rhymes with "eye," the second syllable sounds like "doh" (as in the musical note), and the last syllable rhymes with "lane." The stress or emphasis falls on the first syllable: LY-doh-kayn.

Many people stress the wrong syllable and say li-DOH-kayn (with emphasis on the middle syllable) or LID-oh-kayn. The correct way is to emphasize the first syllable: LY-doh-kayn.

Lidocaine breaks into three syllables: ly-do-caine. Some people hear it as ly-doh-kane, but the middle part is pronounced with a short "oh" sound.

Lidocaine is often abbreviated as "lido" in medical settings, pronounced LY-doh. You might also see it written as "xylocaine," which is a brand name for the same drug pronounced ZY-loh-kayn.

Lidocaine is the name of a specific numbing medicine. If you've ever had a dental procedure, you've probably heard your dentist mention it—it's the injection that makes your mouth feel tingly and numb so you don't feel pain during the work.

Yes! Lidocaine belongs to a group of medicines called "local anesthetics." You might hear doctors use other similar words like "novocaine" (NOH-voh-kayn) or "bupivacaine" (byoo-PIV-uh-kayn), which are also numbing medicines used in dentistry and medicine.

Here's an example: "Before the dentist filled my cavity, she injected lidocaine to numb the area." Or: "The dentist explained that the lidocaine would take a few minutes to work."

Medical words often stress the first or second syllable, and lidocaine follows the pattern of starting strong with LY. Remembering to say it like "LY-doh-kayn" rather than "li-DOH-kayn" helps you sound confident when talking to your dentist or doctor.