ow/aʊ/
Start with a dropped jaw and flat tongue. Glide into a relaxed, slightly rounded lip position as the back of the tongue stretches up.
How to pronounce outfit in American English
OWT·fiht
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Americans pronounce outfit as OWT-fiht (/ˈaʊtˌfɪt/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "outfit".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
f/f/
Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.
ih/ɪ/
Drop your jaw slightly with relaxed lips. Touch the tongue tip behind the bottom front teeth and arch the top-front toward the roof.
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.
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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 first syllable, not the others. Stretch OWT — keep everything else short and quick.
owt·FIHT→OWT·FIHT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "outfit" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "OWT" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "OWT-fiht" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Is the American pronunciation of "outfit" 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 "OWT-fiht" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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