How to pronounce busy in American English
BIH·zee
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Americans pronounce busy as BIH-zee (/ˈbɪzi/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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In real conversation
Hear "busy" in the wild.
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"His cousin was busy choosing a dozen roses."
hihz KUH·zuhn wuhz BIH·zee CHOO·zuhng uh DUH·zuhn ROH·zuhz
"I bet the biology lab is busy before breaks."
ahy BEHT dhuh bahy·AH·luh·jee LAB ihz BIH·zee buh·FOR BRAYKS
"I would if I could, but I'm too busy."
ahy wuud ihf ahy kuud buht ahym TOO BIH·zee
"It's a very busy season for our business."
ihts uh VEH·ree BIH·zee SEE·zuhn fer owr BIHZ·nuhs
"The typical citizen is busy with illicit business."
dhuh TIH·puh·kuhl SIH·duh·zuhn ihz BIH·zee wihth ih·LIH·suht BIHZ·nuhs
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 BIH — keep everything else short and quick.
bih·ZEE→BIH·zee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "busy" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "BIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "BIH-zee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "busy" 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 "BIH-zee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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