k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
How to pronounce criticized in American English
KRIH·tuh·sahyzd
Start here
Americans pronounce criticized as KRIH-tuh-sahyzd (/ˈkrɪɾəˌsaɪzd/). In "criticized", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. So instead of KRIH·tuh·sahyzt, you get KRIH·tuh·SAHYZD. Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The review criticized the pacing of the second act" or "The opposition party criticized the new budget proposal harshly" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "criticized".
3 syllables, 9 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
t/t/
FlapQuickly bounce the front of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Don't stop the airflow — just a quick tap.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
ahy/aɪ/
Start with your jaw open wide and your tongue resting low and flat. Glide the front of your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth as your jaw closes halfway.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
In real conversation
Hear "criticized" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He criticized the film for its slow pacing and lack of character development."
hee KRIH·duh·sahyzd dhuh FIHLM fer ihts SLOH PAY·suhng and LAK uhv KEH·ruhk·ter duh·VEH·luhp·muhnt
"The opposition party criticized the new budget proposal harshly."
dhee ah·puh·ZIH·shuhn PAR·tee KRIH·duh·sahyzd dhuh noo BUH·juht pruh·POH·zuhl HARSH·lee
"The review criticized the pacing of the second act."
dhuh ruh·VYOO KRIH·duh·sahyzd dhuh PAY·suhng uhv dhuh SEH·kuhnd AKT
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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
Saying a hard "T" in the middle.
In "criticized", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.
KRIH-tuh-sahyzt→KRIH·tuh·SAHYZD
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch KRIH — keep everything else short and quick.
krih·TUH·SAHYZD→KRIH·tuh·SAHYZD
03
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.
KRIH·TUH·sahyzd→KRIH·tuh·SAHYZD
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "criticized" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "KRIH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "KRIH-tuh-sahyzd" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why doesn't the T sound like a T in "criticized"?
In American English, when /t/ sits between two vowels with the second one unstressed, it turns into a quick D-like flap. So "criticized" sounds closer to "KRIH-tuh-sahyzd" than to a crisp-T pronunciation. This is the flap-T rule, one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech.
Why does the second syllable in "criticized" 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 "KRIH-tuh-sahyzd" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "criticized" 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 "KRIH-tuh-sahyzd" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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