How to pronounce high in American English

IPA /haɪ/ Syllables 1 · hahy Stress 1st syllable

HAHY

Start here

Americans pronounce high as HAHY (/haɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The price is high" or "The waves were powerful and very high" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "high" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "high".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

h/h/

Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.

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.

In real conversation

Hear "high" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"A plateau is a high, flat area of land."

uh pla·TOH ihz uh HAHY FLAT AIR·ee·uh uhv LAND

"He focuses on learning high-frequency words first."

hee FOH·kuh·suhz ahn LUR·nuhng HAHY FREE·kwuhn·see WURDZ FURST

"He observed the cells under a high-powered microscope."

hee uhb·ZURVD dhuh SEHLZ UHN·der uh HAHY POW·erd MAHY·kruh·skohp

"How high can the helicopter hover here?"

HOW HAHY kuhn dhuh HEH·luh·kahp·ter HUH·ver HEER

"I enjoy high-intensity interval training for a quick workout."

ahy uhn·JOY HAHY uhn·TEHN·suh·tee IHN·ter·vuhl TRAY·nuhng fer uh KWIHK WURK·owt

"She has a wide vocal range and can hit very high notes."

shee huhz uh WAHYD VOH·kuhl RAYNJ and kuhn HIHT VEH·ree HAHY NOHTS

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "high" 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 "HAHY" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.