yoo/ju/
Start with the tongue mid-front raised high, almost touching the roof of the mouth (but not touching). Glide into a tight lip circle as the tongue back lifts.
How to pronounce unanimously in American English
yoo·NA·nuh·muh·slee
Start here
Americans pronounce unanimously as yoo-NA-nuh-muh-slee (/juˈnænəməsli/). In "unanimously", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. This is called the Cat-Vowel Before M/N, a small move that separates 'classroom' from 'native'. It comes out as yoo·NA·nuh·muh·slee. Stress falls on the second syllable — keep everything else short and quick. You'll hear it in sentences like "The committee voted unanimously in favor of the new policy" or "The international community condemned the attack unanimously" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "unanimously".
5 syllables, 10 sounds. Tap a syllable to jump to its row, then explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
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.
a/æ/
NasalizedThe tongue relaxes down in the back and the corners of the lips relax before the consonant. This adds a schwa-like 'uh' relaxation after the /æ/. Think of it as 'relaxing out of the vowel' — it is no longer a pure /æ/ sound.
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.
uh/ʌ/
Relax your lips, jaw, and tongue completely. Drop your jaw slightly and keep the tongue neutral.
m/m/
SyllabicThe schwa before M disappears — M becomes the vowel of the syllable. Go straight from the previous consonant to M.
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.
l/l/
Place the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge just behind your top front teeth, the same contact point as /t/, /d/, and /n/. The difference is what happens to the air: for /l/, you let it flow continuously around the <em>sides</em> of the tongue (that's why /l/ is called a lateral). Turn your voice on the whole time. Lips stay relaxed, no rounding or flaring. For the Dark L variant at the end of a syllable, also pull the back of the tongue up and back toward the soft palate.
ee/i/
Pull the corners of your lips back slightly. Arch the middle-front of your tongue high toward the roof of the mouth.
In real conversation
Hear "unanimously" in the wild.
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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
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "unanimously", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.
yoo-NA-nuh-muh-slee→yoo·NA·nuh·muh·slee
02
Stressing the wrong syllable.
Stress falls on the second syllable, not the others. Stretch NA — keep everything else short and quick.
YOO·na·NUH·MUH·SLEE→yoo·NA·nuh·muh·slee
03
Pronouncing the unstressed syllable too fully.
Don't pronounce the second syllable too fully. The unstressed syllable reduces to a schwa — the lazy "uh" sound — in casual speech.
yoo·NA·NUH·muh·slee→yoo·NA·nuh·muh·slee
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How is "unanimously" stressed in American English?
Stress falls on the second syllable — say "NA" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "yoo-NA-nuh-muh-slee" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.
Why does the third syllable in "unanimously" reduce to "uh"?
Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "yoo-NA-nuh-muh-slee" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.
Is the American pronunciation of "unanimously" 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 "yoo-NA-nuh-muh-slee" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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