How to pronounce thin in American English

IPA /θɪn/ Syllables 1 · thihn Stress 1st syllable

THIHN

Start here

Americans pronounce thin as THIHN (/θɪn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Ten men ran in the thin green line" or "The athlete was thin but very strong" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "thin" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "thin".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

th/θ/

Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.

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.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

In real conversation

Hear "thin" in the wild.

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

"Ten men ran in the thin green line."

TEHN MEHN RAN ihn dhuh THIHN GREEN LAHYN

"The athlete was thin but very strong."

dhee ATH·leet wuhz THIHN buht VEH·ree STRAHNG

"The curtains in the bedroom are too thin to block the sunlight."

dhuh KUR·tuhnz ihn dhuh BEH·droom er TOO THIHN tuh BLAHK dhuh SUHN·lahyt

"The editor said the credits were spread too thin."

dhee EH·duh·der sehd dhuh KREH·duhts wer SPREHD TOO THIHN

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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