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.
How to pronounce epidemic in American English
eh·puh·DEH·muhk
Start here
Americans pronounce epidemic as eh-puh-DEH-muhk (/ˌɛpəˈdɛmək/). Stress falls on the third syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The epidemic spread rapidly through the population".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "epidemic".
4 syllables, 8 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
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.
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.
m/m/
Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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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
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "epidemic", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
epidemic→EH·puh·DEH·muhk
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the third syllable, not the others. Stretch DEH — keep everything else short and quick.
EH·PUH·deh·MUHK→EH·puh·DEH·muhk
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.
eh·PUH·DEH·muhk→EH·puh·DEH·muhk
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "epidemic" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the third syllable — say "DEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "eh-puh-DEH-muhk" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the second syllable in "epidemic" 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 "eh-puh-DEH-muhk" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "epidemic" 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 "eh-puh-DEH-muhk" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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