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 divorce in American English
duh·VORS
Start here
Americans pronounce divorce as duh-VORS (/dəˈvɔrs/). Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "He specializes in family law and handles divorce cases" or "The divorce decree finalized the end of their marriage" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "divorce".
2 syllables, 5 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.
v/v/
Lift your bottom lip so its inner edge (where the wet part meets the dry part) touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you blow air through.
or/ɔr/
Start with the 'aw' jaw drop and rounded lips. Pull the tongue back and up while keeping the lips rounded for the R.
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 "divorce" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He specializes in family law and handles divorce cases."
hee SPEH·shuh·lahy·zuhz ihn FAM·lee LAH and HAN·duhlz duh·VORS KAY·suhz
"The divorce decree finalized the end of their marriage."
dhuh duh·VORS duh·KREE FAHY·nuh·lahyzd dhee EHND uhv dhair MA·ruhj
"The prenup agreement protected her assets in case of divorce."
dhuh PREE·nuhp uh·GREE·muhnt pruh·TEHK·tuhd her A·sehts ihn KAYS uhv duh·VORS
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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 VORS — keep everything else short and quick.
DUH·vors→duh·VORS
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·VORS→duh·VORS
03
Pronouncing the "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "divorce" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "VORS" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "duh-VORS" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the first syllable in "divorce" 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-VORS" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
How do I pronounce the R in "divorce"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "divorce" 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-VORS" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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