How to pronounce laced in American English

IPA /leɪst/ Syllables 1 · layst Stress 1st syllable

LAYST

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Americans pronounce laced as LAYST (/leɪst/).

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Why it sounds different

Why "laced" sounds like LAYST.

The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, a connected-speech trick that makes phrases flow. It comes out as LAYST.

In real conversation

Hear "laced" in the wild.

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

"He laced up his running shoes and headed out not door."

hee LAYST UHP hihz RUH·nuhng SHOOZ and HEH·duhd OWT NAHT DOR

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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