p/p/
Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.
How to pronounce pressure in American English
PREH·sher
Start here
Americans pronounce pressure as PREH-sher (/ˈprɛʃər/). Stress falls on the first syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The severe peer pressure was sincere" or "Apply pressure to the point of pain patiently" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "pressure".
2 syllables, 5 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
sh/ʃ/
Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.
er/ər/
Relax your mouth and lift the tongue back and up. Keep the lips neutral.
In real conversation
Hear "pressure" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Apply pressure to the point of pain patiently."
uh·PLAHY PREH·sher tuh dhuh POYNT uhv PAYN PAY·shuhnt·lee
"Deforestation rates have decreased due to international pressure."
dee·for·uh·STAY·shuhn RAYTS huhv duh·KREEST DOO tuh ihn·ter·NA·shuh·nuhl PREH·sher
"He measured the temperature and pressure of the gas."
hee MEH·zherd dhuh TEHM·pruh·cher and PREH·sher uhv dhuh GAS
"He monitors vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure."
hee MAH·nuh·terz VAHY·duhl SAHYNZ suhch uhz HART RAYT and BLUHD PREH·sher
"The judiciary remained independent despite political pressure."
dhuh joo·DIH·shee·air·ee ruh·MAYND ihn·duh·PEHN·duhnt duh·SPAHYT puh·LIH·duh·kuhl PREH·sher
"The nurse took my blood pressure and recorded my temperature."
dhuh NURS TUUK mahy BLUHD PREH·sher and ruh·KOR·duhd mahy TEHM·pruh·cher
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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 PREH — keep everything else short and quick.
preh·SHER→PREH·sher
02
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 "pressure" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the first syllable — say "PREH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "PREH-sher" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
How do I pronounce the R in "pressure"?
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 "pressure" 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 "PREH-sher" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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