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 discuss in American English
duh·SKUHS
Start here
Americans pronounce discuss as duh-SKUHS (/dəˈskʌs/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "They huddled together to discuss the next play" or "He joined a book club to discuss novels with other readers" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "discuss".
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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.
In real conversation
Hear "discuss" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He joined a book club to discuss novels with other readers."
hee JOYND uh BUUK KLUHB tuh duh·SKUHS NAH·vuhlz wihth UH·dher REE·derz
"I am available to discuss this further at your convenience."
ahy uhm uh·VAY·luh·buhl tuh duh·SKUHS dhihs FUR·dher uht yer kuhn·VEEN·yuhns
"I would like to discuss your professional development goals for next year."
ahy wuud LAHYK tuh duh·SKUHS yer pruh·FEH·shuh·nuhl duh·VEH·luhp·muhnt GOHLZ fer NEHKST YEER
"Let's discuss the terms and conditions of the proposed agreement."
LEHTS duh·SKUHS dhuh TURMZ and kuhn·DIH·shuhnz uhv dhuh pruh·POHZD uh·GREE·muhnt
"She attended a neighborhood watch meeting to discuss safety."
shee uh·TEHN·duhd uh NAY·ber·huud WAHCH MEE·duhng tuh duh·SKUHS SAYF·tee
"They huddled together to discuss the next play."
dhay HUH·duhld tuh·GEH·dher tuh duh·SKUHS dhuh NEHKST PLAY
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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 SKUHS — keep everything else short and quick.
DUH·skuhs→duh·SKUHS
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·SKUHS→duh·SKUHS
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "discuss" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "SKUHS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "duh-SKUHS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "discuss" 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-SKUHS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "discuss" 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-SKUHS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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