noun
a speech sound produced by narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract
adjective
relating to or denoting a consonant that is produced by narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract
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The phoneme /w/ is an approximant sound produced by rounding the lips.
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In casual conversation, people often pronounce 'approximant' as 'uh-prox-uh-muhnt'.
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I can't believe I nailed that approximant in my speech, it was perfect!
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Her singing voice was like a smooth approximant, gliding effortlessly through the song.