ay/eɪ/
Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.
How to pronounce apex in American English
AY·pehks
Start here
Americans pronounce apex as AY-pehks (/ˈeɪpɛks/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Sharks are the apex predators of the ocean ecosystem".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "apex".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
eh/ɛ/
Drop your jaw moderately. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and lift the mid-front part slightly toward the roof.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
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Watch out
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
01
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch AY — keep everything else short and quick.
ay·PEHKS→AY·pehks
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "apex" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "AY" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "AY-pehks" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "apex" different from British English?
American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "AY-pehks" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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