How to pronounce cholesterol in American English
Americans pronounce cholesterol as kuh-LEH-stuh-rohl (/kəˈlɛstəˌroʊl/). The unstressed syllable reduces to a lazy schwa — almost a quick "uh" — instead of being pronounced fully. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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Why "cholesterol" sounds like kuh·LEH·stuh·ROHL.
The "" shared between "" and "" is held once, slightly longer, and released once instead of stopping and starting twice. This is called the Same-Consonant Linking, the way sentences stop sounding like a list and start sounding like speech. It comes out as kuh·LEH·stuh·ROHL.
Hear "cholesterol" in the wild.
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Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
Treating every L the same.
The L in "cholesterol" is a dark L — the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, adding a small "uh" quality before the L. Dark L adds a small schwa-like "uh" before the L. The back of the tongue lifts toward the soft palate.
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch LEH — keep everything else short and quick.
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.
Questions people ask about this.
How is "cholesterol" stressed in American English?
Why does the first syllable in "cholesterol" reduce to "uh"?
Is the American pronunciation of "cholesterol" different from British English?
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