# Pronouncing "mischievous" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154 "2008-11-04T21:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/1 "2008-11-04T21:56:01Z")
Is it “mis-cheeve-ious” or “mis-chif-fus”? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/2 "2008-11-04T21:57:51Z")
I pronounce it 'mis-cheev-ious". ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/3 "2008-11-04T22:04:09Z")
MIS chiv ous ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/4 "2008-11-04T22:12:25Z")
About a 50/50 split between ‘mis-cheev-us’ and ‘mis-cheev-ious’. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/5 "2008-11-04T22:33:23Z")
Just like the first entry at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) /ˈmɪstʃəvəs/ in IPA. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/6 "2008-11-04T22:42:57Z")
I pronounce as Hazle does. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/7 "2008-11-04T22:44:38Z")
MIS-chuh-vus ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/8 "2008-11-04T22:45:36Z")
Sometimes one way, sometimes the other. I know I have a reason for why I switch, but I can’t tell you what it is off the top of my head. Mis-cheeve-ious just sounds better in certain contexts than mis-chif-fus. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/9 "2008-11-04T22:47:46Z")
I pronounce it “Throat-Warbler-Mangrove.” 😃 Oh, come on; you knew someone was going to say it. 😛 I think I go with mis-cheeve-i-ous. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/10 "2008-11-04T22:55:38Z")
I dare you to post this in the Pit thread re: pronunciation. You’d get eaten alive! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/11 "2008-11-04T22:55:48Z")
mis-CHEEV-ee-us over here. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/12 "2008-11-04T23:23:33Z")
Now, if you take that extra short “i” sound, and return it to its rightful owner “aluminium”, we’ll all pretend this didn’t happen. 😃 Seriously, it’s “MIS-chi-vus” here. Saying “mis-chee-vee-us” in Australia marks you as uneducated and hick - or a child (it’s a bit like “chimbly” and “nothingk”). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/13 "2008-11-04T23:43:38Z")
I hear plenty of people pronounce it with the extra syllable (to rhyme with “devious”), apparently out of ignorance. There’s no justification for it in the spelling. (If it were pronounced that way, it’d be one of those [Words Not Pronounced Like They’re Spelled](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491206).) So, I pronounce it “ **mis** -chƏv-Əs.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/14 "2008-11-05T00:12:06Z")
There is no “mis-cheev-ious” because it is not spelled “mischevious”. People who pronounce it that way are wrong, pure and simple (they are not choosing to use an acceptable alternative pronunciation). Also note I used the word “alternative” instead of “alternate”. Just a heads up, America!!! ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/15 "2008-11-05T00:14:46Z")
mis-cheh-viss ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/16 "2008-11-05T02:17:52Z")
miss-cheh-vuss ---
**Author:** ![Anaptyxis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anaptyxis/32/3171_2.png) [@Anaptyxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaptyxis)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/17 "2008-11-05T03:18:22Z")
I confess that I didn’t adopt the correct spelling or pronunciation until I noticed the poster of the same name one day! And I call myself edumacated. :o ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/18 "2008-11-05T08:08:38Z")
MIS-chif-vus ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/19 "2008-11-05T15:14:11Z")
It depends; if I’m feeling silly, it’s “mis-CHEEEV-ious” said in a squeaky voice, like when my niece is playing hide-and-seek. If I’m just saying it, it’s “Mis-che-vus.” ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154/20 "2008-11-05T16:28:16Z")
mis-che-vus. There is no “i” after the “v.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-mischievous/471154.md?page=2)