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 worth in American English
WURTH
Start here
Americans pronounce worth as WURTH (/wɜrθ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "One week is worth waiting for the win" or "It's worth a thousand dollars, I think" — more examples below.
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Sound by sound
Every sound in "worth".
1 syllable, 3 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.
th/θ/
Place the very tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth. Blow air gently around it without voicing.
In real conversation
Hear "worth" in the wild.
Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.
"Although it's difficult, it's worth doing."
ahl·DHOH ihts DIH·fuh·kuhlt ihts WURTH DOO·uhng
"Both math and ethics are worth thinking through."
BOHTH MATH and EH·thuhks er WURTH THIHNG·kuhng throo
"He tracks his net worth quarterly to monitor his financial progress."
hee TRAKS hihz NEHT WURTH KWOR·ter·lee tuh MAH·nuh·ter hihz fuh·NAN·shuhl PRAH·gruhs
"It's worth a thousand dollars, I think."
ihts WURTH uh THOW·zuhnd DAH·lerz ahy thihngk
"One week is worth waiting for the win."
wuhn WEEK ihz WURTH WAY·duhng fer dhuh WIHN
"The final exam is worth forty percent of the overall grade."
dhuh FAHY·nuhl uhg·ZAM ihz WURTH FOR·dee per·SEHNT uhv dhee oh·vuh·AHL GRAYD
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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 "worth"?
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 "worth" 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 "WURTH" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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