How to pronounce rust in American English

IPA /rʌst/ Syllables 1 · ruhst Stress 1st syllable

RUHST

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Americans pronounce rust as RUHST (/rʌst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Wrap the rough rope around the rust rack".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "rust".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. 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.

uh/ʌ/

Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.

s/s/

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

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.

In real conversation

Hear "rust" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Wrap the rough rope around the rust rack."

RAP dhuh RUHF ROHP uh·ROWND dhuh RUHST RAK

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Questions

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