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 ceremony in American English
SEH·ruh·moh·nee
Start here
Americans pronounce ceremony as SEH-ruh-moh-nee (/ˈsɛrəˌmoʊni/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The closing ceremony marked the end of the games" or "The medal ceremony honored the top three athletes" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "ceremony".
4 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
r/r/
Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
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.
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 "ceremony" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"I experienced a moment of pure happiness during the ceremony."
ahy uhk·SPEER·ee·uhnst uh MOH·muhnt uhv PYUUR HA·pee·nuhs DUUR·uhng dhuh SEH·ruh·moh·nee
"Let's schedule a signing ceremony once all parties have agreed."
LEHTS SKEH·jool uh SAHY·nuhng SEH·ruh·moh·nee WUHNS AHL PAR·teez huhv uh·GREED
"She was absolutely glowing at her graduation ceremony yesterday."
shee wuhz ab·suh·LOOT·lee GLOH·uhng uht her gra·joo·AY·shuhn SEH·ruh·moh·nee YEH·ster·day
"The closing ceremony marked the end of the games."
dhuh KLOH·zuhng SEH·ruh·moh·nee MARKT dhee EHND uhv dhuh GAYMZ
"The graduation ceremony will be held in the main auditorium."
dhuh gra·joo·AY·shuhn SEH·ruh·moh·nee wihl bee HEHLD ihn dhuh MAYN ah·duh·TOR·ee·uhm
"The ceremony was deeply moving and brought tears to many eyes."
dhuh SEH·ruh·moh·nee wuhz DEE·plee MOO·vuhng and BRAHT TEERZ tuh MEH·nee AHYZ
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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 SEH — keep everything else short and quick.
seh·RUH·MOH·NEE→SEH·ruh·MOH·nee
02
Pronouncing the unstressed 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.
SEH·RUH·moh·nee→SEH·ruh·MOH·nee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "ceremony" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "SEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "SEH-ruh-moh-nee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "ceremony" 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 "SEH-ruh-moh-nee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "ceremony" 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 "SEH-ruh-moh-nee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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