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.
How to pronounce defense in American English
duh·FEHNS
Start here
Americans pronounce defense as duh-FEHNS (/dəˈfɛns/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He is a black belt in karate and teaches self-defense" or "The defense attorney objected to the line of questioning" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "defense".
2 syllables, 6 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
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.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "defense" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He gave a compelling opening statement outlining his defense."
hee GAYV uh kuhm·PEH·luhng OH·puh·nuhng STAYT·muhnt OWT·lahy·nuhng hihz duh·FEHNS
"He is a black belt in karate and teaches self-defense."
hee ihz uh BLAK BEHLT ihn kuh·RAH·dee and TEE·chuhz SEHLF duh·FEHNS
"She plays defense and stops the opposing team from scoring."
shee PLAYZ DEE·fehns and STAHPS dhee uh·POH·zuhng TEEM fruhm SKOR·uhng
"The alliance strengthened its commitment to collective defense."
dhee uh·LAHY·uhns STREHNG·thuhnd ihts kuh·MIHT·muhnt tuh kuh·LEHK·tuhv duh·FEHNS
"The defense attorney gathered witnesses to support her client."
dhuh duh·FEHNS uh·TUR·nee GA·dherd WIHT·nuh·suhz tuh suh·PORT her KLAHY·uhnt
"The defense attorney objected to the line of questioning."
dhuh duh·FEHNS uh·TUR·nee uhb·JEHK·tuhd tuh dhuh LAHYN uhv KWEHS·chuh·nuhng
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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 second syllable, not the others. Stretch FEHNS — keep everything else short and quick.
DUH·fehns→duh·FEHNS
02
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.
DUH·FEHNS→duh·FEHNS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "defense" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "FEHNS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "duh-FEHNS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "defense" 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 "duh-FEHNS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "defense" 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 "duh-FEHNS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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