how to pronounce mafia

/ˈmɑːfiːə/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of mafia is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

mafia is pronounced in three syllables

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1.

ɑː

2.

iː

3. example pitch curve for pronunciation of mafia

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video examples of mafia pronunciation

An example use of mafia in a speech by a native speaker of american english:

“… and i called in a mafia democracy trying …”

meanings of mafia

name:

Any organized crime syndicate operating internationally in high-level organized crime; often with a modifying adjective, such as a nationality.
A party game modelling a conflict between an informed minority (the mafia) and an uninformed majority (the innocents). Each player is secretly assigned a role within one of these teams, and the innocents attempt to identify the mafia members before they are all "murdered".
An international criminal organization of Sicilian origin operating in Italy and the United States.
Alternative letter-case form of mafia (“an entity which attempts to control a specified arena").

noun:

An entity which attempts to control a specified arena.
A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
A crime syndicate.
A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.

mafia frequency in english - C2 level of CEFR

the word mafia occurs in english on average 4.2 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for C2 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.