How to pronounce clothes in American English
KLOHZ
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Americans pronounce clothes as KLOHZ (/kloʊz/).
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Why it sounds different
Why "clothes" sounds like KLOHZ.
The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, what turns word-by-word reading into actual conversation. It comes out as KLOHZ.
In real conversation
Hear "clothes" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He asked for new clothes after three months of work."
hee ASKT fer NOO KLOHZ AF·ter THREE MUHNTHS uhv WURK
"I laid out my clothes the night before to save time."
ahy LAYD OWT mahy KLOHZ dhuh NAHYT buh·FOR tuh SAYV TAHYM
"She organized the closet and donated clothes she no longer wears."
shee OR·guh·nahyzd dhuh KLAH·zuht and DOH·nay·tuhd KLOHZ shee NOH LAHNG·ger WAIRZ
"She sews her own clothes using patterns she modifies."
shee SOHZ her ohn KLOHZ YOO·zuhng PA·dernz shee MAH·duh·fahyz
"I asked if those clothes on the desk were yours."
ahy ASKT ihf dhohz KLOHDHZ ahn dhuh DEHSK wer YORZ
"She asked him to wash the clothes for two months."
shee ASKT hihm tuh WAHSH dhuh KLOHZ fer TOO MUHNTHS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "clothes" 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 "KLOHZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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