How to pronounce press in American English

IPA /prɛs/ Syllables 1 · prehs Stress 1st syllable

PREHS

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Americans pronounce press as PREHS (/prɛs/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Censorship of the press is considered a violation of free speech".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "press".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. 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.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

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.

s/s/

Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "press" in the wild.

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"Censorship of the press is considered a violation of free speech."

SEHN·ser·shihp uhv dhuh PREHS uhz kuhn·SIH·derd uh vahy·uh·LAY·shuhn uhv FREE SPEECH

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Questions

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