How to pronounce threats in American English

IPA /θrɛts/ Syllables 1 · threhts Stress 1st syllable

THREHTS

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Americans pronounce threats as THREHTS (/θrɛts/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Scientists warn that biodiversity loss poses existential threats" or "Cybersecurity threats have increased significantly in recent years" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "threats".

1 syllable, 5 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.

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.

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.

s/s/

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

In real conversation

Hear "threats" in the wild.

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

"Cybersecurity threats have increased significantly in recent years."

sahy·ber·suh·KYUUR·uh·tee THREHTS huhv uhn·KREEST suhg·NIH·fuh·kuhnt·lee ihn REE·suhnt YEERZ

"Scientists warn that biodiversity loss poses existential threats."

SAHY·uhn·tuhsts WORN dhuht bahy·oh·duh·VUR·suh·tee LAHS POH·zuhz ehg·zuh·STEHN·shuhl THREHTS

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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