How to pronounce zest in American English

IPA /zɛst/ Syllables 1 · zehst Stress 1st syllable

ZEHST

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Americans pronounce zest as ZEHST (/zɛst/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Several guests recommended the lemon zest recipe".

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "zest".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

z/z/

Same position as S, but add vocal cord vibration. Feel the buzz.

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.

s/s/

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

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.

In real conversation

Hear "zest" in the wild.

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

"Several guests recommended the lemon zest recipe."

SEH·ver·uhl GEHSTS reh·kuh·MEHN·duhd dhuh LEH·muhn ZEHST REH·suh·pee

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

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