n/n/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.
How to pronounce noteworthy in American English
NOHT·wur·dhee
Start here
Americans pronounce noteworthy as NOHT-wur-dhee (/ˈnoʊtˌwɜrði/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "Your overall performance this year has been outstanding and noteworthy".
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "noteworthy".
3 syllables, 7 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
oh/oʊ/
Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back up.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
dh/ð/
Place your tongue tip between or behind your front teeth, turn your vocal cords on, and push air through the gap.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
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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 "noteworthy", the "t" 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.
noteworthy→NOHT·WUR·dhee
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the first syllable, not the others. Stretch NOHT — keep everything else short and quick.
noht·WUR·DHEE→NOHT·WUR·dhee
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 "noteworthy" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "NOHT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "NOHT-wur-dhee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "noteworthy"?
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 "noteworthy" 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 "NOHT-wur-dhee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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