s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce ceo in American English
see·ee·OH
Start here
Americans pronounce ceo as see-ee-OH (/ˌsiˌiˈoʊ/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The man in the blue suit is the CEO of the company".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "ceo".
3 syllables, 4 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
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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 third syllable, not the others. Stretch OH — keep everything else short and quick.
SEE·EE·oh→SEE·EE·OH
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "ceo" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "OH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "see-ee-OH" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "ceo" 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 "see-ee-OH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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