uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
How to pronounce attorney in American English
uh·TUR·nee
Start here
Americans pronounce attorney as uh-TUR-nee (/əˈtɜrni/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "She has a valid power of attorney to manage his finances" or "The defense attorney objected to the line of questioning" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "attorney".
3 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "attorney" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"She has a valid power of attorney to manage his finances."
shee huhz uh VA·luhd POW·er uhv uh·TUR·nee tuh MA·nuhj hihz FAHY·nan·suhz
"She has the power of attorney to make decisions for her father."
shee huhz dhuh POW·er uhv uh·TUR·nee tuh MAYK duh·SIH·zhuhnz fer her FAH·dher
"The defense attorney gathered witnesses to support her client."
dhuh duh·FEHNS uh·TUR·nee GA·dherd WIHT·nuh·suhz tuh suh·PORT her KLAHY·uhnt
"The defense attorney objected to the line of questioning."
dhuh duh·FEHNS uh·TUR·nee uhb·JEHK·tuhd tuh dhuh LAHYN uhv KWEHS·chuh·nuhng
"You have the right to an attorney if you cannot afford one."
yoo HAV dhuh RAHYT tuh uhn uh·TUR·nee ihf yoo KA·naht uh·FORD wuhn
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch TUR — keep everything else short and quick.
UH·tur·NEE→uh·TUR·nee
02
Pronouncing the first syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the first syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
UH·TUR·nee→uh·TUR·nee
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "attorney" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "TUR" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "uh-TUR-nee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "attorney" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "uh-TUR-nee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "attorney"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "attorney" 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 "uh-TUR-nee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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