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.
How to pronounce risk in American English
RIHSK
Start here
Americans pronounce risk as RIHSK (/rɪsk/). You'll hear it in sentences like "This is a big risk for his business" or "Read the report on the rapid river risk" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "risk".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
In real conversation
Hear "risk" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He appreciates the immediacy and risk of live performance."
hee uh·PREE·shee·ayts dhee uh·MEE·dee·uh·see and RIHSK uhv LAHYV per·FOR·muhns
"He updated the risk assessment after the new equipment was installed."
hee uhp·DAY·duhd dhuh RIHSK uh·SEH·smuhnt AF·ter dhuh noo uh·KWIHP·muhnt wuhz uhn·STAHLD
"Read the report on the rapid river risk."
REED dhuh ruh·PORT ahn dhuh RA·puhd RIH·ver RIHSK
"The robo-advisor suggested a portfolio based on my risk tolerance level."
dhuh ROH·boh uhd·VAHY·zer suhg·JEH·stuhd uh port·FOH·lee·oh BAYST ahn mahy RIHSK TAH·ler·uhns LEH·vuhl
"This is a big risk for his business."
dhihs ihz uh BIHG RIHSK fer hihz BIHZ·nuhs
"The company provides regular health screenings for employees in high-risk positions."
dhuh KUHM·puh·nee pruh·VAHYDZ REH·gyuh·ler HEHLTH SKREE·nuhngz fer uhm·PLOY·eez ihn HAHY RIHSK puh·ZIH·shuhnz
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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 "risk", the "k" 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.
risk→RIHSK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "risk" 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 "RIHSK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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