s/s/
Place your tongue tip near the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth. Push air through the narrow gap. No voicing.
How to pronounce strict in American English
STRIHKT
Start here
Americans pronounce strict as STRIHKT (/strɪkt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The strict colonel ordered a new type of corn kernel" or "She follows a strict diet plan to support her training" — more examples below.
Now you try.
Record yourself saying "strict" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.
Sound by sound
Every sound in "strict".
1 syllable, 6 sounds. 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.
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.
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.
k/k/
Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.
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 "strict" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He follows strict safety protocols while working in the lab."
hee FAH·lohz STRIHKT SAYF·tee PROH·duh·kahlz WAHYL WUR·kuhng uhn dhuh LAB
"She follows a strict diet plan to support her training."
shee FAH·lohz uh STRIHKT DAHY·uht PLAN tuh suh·PORT her TRAY·nuhng
"The residence hall has strict policies about overnight guests."
dhuh REH·zuh·duhns HAHL huhz STRIHKT PAH·luh·seez uh·BOWT oh·ver·NAHYT GEHSTS
"The strict colonel ordered a new type of corn kernel."
dhuh STRIHKT KUR·nuhl OR·derd uh NOO TAHYP uhv KORN KUR·nuhl
Find another
Looking for a different word or sentence?
Search the entire library
/
Press / anywhere to focus the search box.
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 "strict", the "t" 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.
strict→STRIHKT
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "strict" 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 "STRIHKT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
Stop reading about "strict". Start saying it.
SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.