How to pronounce wish in American English

IPA /wɪʃ/ Syllables 1 · wihsh Stress 1st syllable

WIHSH

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Americans pronounce wish as WIHSH (/wɪʃ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Wish for cash" or "I wish to visit the exhibit in the middle of spring" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "wish".

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

w/w/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.

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.

sh/ʃ/

Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.

In real conversation

Hear "wish" in the wild.

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

"I want to wish you all the best on your retirement after so many years."

ahy WAHNT tuh WIHSH yoo AHL dhuh BEHST ahn yer ruh·TAHY·er·muhnt AF·ter SOH MEH·nee YEERZ

"I was wrong to say that and I wish I could take it back."

ahy wuhz RAHNG tuh SAY dhat and ahy WIHSH ahy kuud TAYK iht BAK

"I wish to visit the exhibit in the middle of spring."

ahy WIHSH tuh VIH·zuht dhee ihg·ZIH·buht ihn dhuh MIH·duhl uhv sprihng

"Wish for cash."

WIHSH fer KASH

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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