w/w/
Round your lips into a tight circle. Lift the back of your tongue toward the soft palate and add voice.
How to pronounce words in American English
WURDZ
Start here
Americans pronounce words as WURDZ (/wɜrdz/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Welcome to the wonderful world of words" or "He focuses on learning high-frequency words first" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "words".
1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
ur/ɜr/
Flare your lips and push them away from the face. Lift the middle of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.
d/d/
Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Add vocal cord vibration as you release.
z/z/
Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.
In real conversation
Hear "words" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"He focuses on learning high-frequency words first."
hee FOH·kuh·suhz ahn LUR·nuhng HAHY FREE·kwuhn·see WURDZ FURST
"He struggled to find the right words to express his ideas."
hee STRUH·guhld tuh FAHYND dhuh RAHYT WURDZ tuh uhk·SPREHS hihz ahy·DEE·uhz
"I was insensitive and I deeply regret my choice of words."
ahy wuhz uhn·SEHN·suh·tuhv and ahy DEE·plee ruh·GREHT mahy CHOYS uhv WURDZ
"Welcome to the wonderful world of words."
WEH·luh·kuhm tuh dhuh WUHN·der·fuhl WURLD uhv WURDZ
"He is studying the etymology of words to better understand their meaning."
hee ihz STUH·dee·uhng dhee eh·duh·MAH·luh·jee uhv WURDZ tuh BEH·der uhn·der·STAND dhair MEE·nuhng
"The word count should not exceed three thousand words total."
dhuh WURD KOWNT shuud NAHT uhk·SEED THREE THOW·zuhnd WURDZ TOH·duhl
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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 "R" too clearly.
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R — the tongue curls back rather than rolling. The R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it, not two separate sounds.
… (no R)→… r (curl the tongue)
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
How do I pronounce the R in "words"?
Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.
Is the American pronunciation of "words" 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 "WURDZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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