Do you want to become a savvy-English speaker and wow your listeners?
We all know that English is enriched with numerous words. Most of them are easy to pronounce, but some literally require days of practice to get them right.
Remember, to become a perfect English speaker, you need to learn the right pronunciation of every word. We’ve compiled the list of 50+ hard words to pronounce in the blog, just to help you surprise your listeners with your new-cool accent!
More than 50% of English words have been derived or borrowed from ancient languages, i.e., Greek, Latin, etc. Not all speakers have links with these languages. This is why, speakers find it difficult to pronounce English words, even native ones too.
The list below contains 57 hard-to-pronounce words, along with detailed explanations of each word:
Pro-speakers use “abberant” to impress their listeners with their high-level vocabulary. This word is used to describe a stubborn person. It’s a three-syllable word and its correct pronunciation is “uh·beh·ruhnt”.
Just like succeed, this word is also pronounced as “accede” (uhk-seed) but with an “a” instead of “s” at the beginning. This word is a verb and falls under the family tree of the word “accept-accepted-acceptance.” In other words, it’s a synonym of accept/agree.
How do you say it? “A-say-say-ri” or “Ex-Ari”? If you’re not pronouncing this as “uhk·seh·suh·ree”, then better practice and get it right because all the other pronunciations except this one are wrong. If you closely look into the spellings, you’ll find “access” at the very start. You can break it into two words, “access” and “ory” while practicing.
No hard and fast rules for this word. Its pronunciation is just like its spelling, that is: “a·duh·muhnt”. Adamant’s meaning is related to aberrant, and it’s an adjective used to describe a person who is not willing to change his decision or idea at any cost.
The pronunciation of this word is simple, too, “e-dumb-rayt”. The “e” at the end has nothing to do with the pronunciation, so it should not be pronounced.
If you’re a Nemo fan, then you’re probably familiar with this word. If not, then let me tell you about it; Nemo is a world-famous animated movie. What’s more surprising is that Nemo (the protagonist) couldn’t even pronounce this word. End of the story and moving on to the point, its correct pronunciation is “uh·neh·muh·nee”, and it’s a plant.
If you’re a writer or a book-lover, you’re likely familiar with this word. The precise meaning of this word is “fictitious,” and it is pronounced as “uh·paa·kruh·fl”.
Non-native speakers might pronounce this word as “boo-ar-boon.” However, “buh-A-ban” is its correct pronunciation. It's an American whisky that got its name from the French vocabulary.
Say it out loud. Are you saying“bree-veery”? Or “brav-ary”? Any of these two pronunciations coming out of your mouth is incorrect! The word brewery is basically a bear house where the bear is officially prepared, and it is pronounced as “broo·uh·ree”. It's a three-syllable word, and its "w" is silent.
Broccoli should be pronounced as “braa·kuh·lee” but not “bro-ko-li.” Double “c” is used to convert the “si” sound into a “k” sound, which is what many speakers aren’t aware of.
Images that feature the imitation of characters in an exaggerated form to create a comic effect are called caricatures. It’s not a meme, but you can call it a kind of meme. Anyhow, the pronunciation of caricatures is “keh·ruh·kuh·churz”.
This one originated from the Latin word “caballus,” which means horse. Cavalry is a collective noun that refers to the group of soldiers who fought on horses. Now, let's move on to its pronunciation…It’s “ka·vuhl·ree”.
It’s simple; you’ve got to say “shaar·koo·tr·ee” instead of “Kar-Koo-tr-ee.” It’s a French word, and most of the time, “ch” in French is pronounced as “sh.”
You might have noticed that in the English Language most “ch” sounds are pronounced as “k,” just like in chemistry. The same is the case with this word. Choir, pronounced as “kwai·uh” refers to the group of church singers. Notice that the “r” at the end of the word is silent. And, just to surprise you, “quire” and “choir” are homophones (words having the same sounds but different meanings).
One day I was conducting an online class with a 5th-grade little boy. He was reading a passage to me and suddenly said, “... Cool-on-al walked in…”. I couldn’t get it at first, but when I looked at the text, I realized it was “kuh·nuhl”. This word “colonel” is also adapted from the Latin language. It refers to the rank of army officers.
You can see the word “connect” in its spelling. But surprisingly, when speaking, “connect” in this case is not pronounced as “Kuh-nek-t” but “Kuh-net,” which is why “Connecticut” is pronounced as “kuh·neh·tuh·kuht”.
Speakers often pronounce this word incorrectly. Some utter it as “koop” and some as “Ka-oop.” Both are incorrect pronunciations. The “p” is silent. Hence the word becomes “ko-uh” when pronounced.
It’s a scientific word. In the world of medical sciences, a defibrillator is used for applying electric shots to the hearts. People often skip the “r” in the middle of the word and mistakenly pronounce it as “dee-fib-later’ instead of “duh·fi·bruh·lay·tuh”. The “r” at the end should not be pronounced.
Greeks have left us so many hard-to-pronounce English words just like this one. People often ignore the “e” sound at the end when saying this word. However, it should be pronounced: “uh·pi·tuh·mee”. There’re no silent letters. All consonants and vowels should be pronounced.
The letters “u” and “v” always complicate the pronunciation of words. In this case, both letters are occurring in the same word, making this word’s pronunciation even more complicated. Equivocal is pronounced as "uh·kwi·vuh·kl”.
You might be tempted to pronounce the “e” along with all the sounds. However, “e” becomes “y” when pronouncing this word, hence, its correct pronunciation is “yoo·luh·jee”.
English vocabulary has numerous Greek words, and “Heresy” is one of them. With close attention, one would notice that this word combines “here” and “sy” with each other. This is why people pronounce it as “here-sy,” which is not the correct pronunciation. The correct one is “heh·ruh·see”.
The words that are the descendants of the Greek language are all tricky to pronounce. The “e(s)” appearing at the end of such words are not ignored while speaking. Hence, hyperbole should be uttered as “hai·pur·buh·lee”.
Another word for ignominious is “shameful.” To pronounce this word correctly, you can divide it into two chunks, such as igno+mnious. After that, break it further into 5 syllables: “ig·nuh+mi·nee·uhs”.
Little do the people know that “s” is silent in the word Island. The pronunciation is simple but tricky because “s” is rarely ignored when pronouncing English words. Island should sound “I-land” when uttered by speakers.
It’s so easy to pronounce the sound “th” no matter where it appears. However, the case with this word is pretty different. According to the standard pronunciation rules, “th” should be skipped when saying isthmus. So, this word should be pronounced as “is-mus”.
The “r” sound sometimes plays twists-and-turns with our tongues and sometimes hide-and-seek with us. In this case, juror is playing both games at the same time. The word roles our tongue when pronouncing the sound “ro” but forces the tongue to recover its position by pronouncing the “uh” sound instead of “r.” The correct pronunciation of juror is “juor·ruh”.
The awkward combination of vowels and consonants twits the tongue, which leads to the door of wrong pronunciation. The word Laison should be pronounced as “lee·ay·zaan”.
The pronunciation of this word is not as simple as its spellings. You can see a sandwich “rar” in between the word library. Saying “lah-bra-er-re” instead of “lahy-brer-ee” is wrong. This word is not as tricky as mischievous; you just need to avoid saying the extra “e” sound and pronounce it as a two-syllable word.
Licentious is super-common among all native and non-native speakers. “C” in this sentence should be pronounced as “k” and the suffix -ious as “chuhs.” So the correct pronunciation becomes “lai·sen·chuhs”.
Mastering the correct pronunciation of this particular word is as hard as learning its spellings. Look at the word carefully, and you’ll find two nouns placed at different positions: Mass and set. Just because of these two words, people are often tempted to pronounce this word as “Mas-say-chu-sets,” which is incorrect. This is how it should be pronounced “ma·suh·choo·suhts”. Wondering what this word means? It’s a US state.
A very common word and one of the most mispronounced words! Speakers often pronounce a long “chee” in the middle of this word. Let me surprise you with its original pronunciation which is: "mis·chuh·vuhs”. It is used to refer to a naughty child.
You might be using this word daily, but if you’re saying it “muh·stash-e,” then you’re on the wrong side. The vowel “e” at the end is simply ignored while pronouncing, making the correct pronunciation “muh·stash”.
“Cis” and “sis” are pronounced the same as “sis” in this case. Two “sis” are combined to make “nar-sis-sis-tik”. It’s a hard word to pronounce, and you might have to devote several minutes of practice to it.
You might not see “sh” in this word, but you will hear “sh” when it's pronounced correctly, i.e., “naa·shuhs”. Nauseous is derived from a Latin word, which makes sense why it’s so hard to pronounce.
Here is another word with the suffix -ate. Obdurate’s pronunciation is often confused with “(to) durate” derived from the word duration. This is why people pronounce this word incorrectly as “Ob-du-rate.” However, the correct pronunciation of obdurate is “aab·dr·uht”.
As we’ve noticed in the above words, “cc” is often pronounced as “k”; hence “occasion” should actually be uttered as “uh·kay·zhn”. Remember that the suffix -sion is pronounced as “zhn” instead of “sh-an.”
The correct pronunciation of “often” is “o·fn”. It's so easy to pronounce the “t” sound, as in most cases, “t” is not silent. “T” in this word was, however, pronounced during the middle-English age when the word was invented from the word “oft.” After the addition of the suffix “-en,”/t/ received no attention when speaking.
The repetition of “o” and the diphthong “oe” confuses the speakers, which is why most of them mistakenly pronounce it as “on-o-ma-to-po-ea.” Little do the speakers know that the fourth “o” plays no role when it comes to pronunciation. That said, the correct pronunciation of “onomatopoeia” is “o·nuh·ma·tuh·pee·uh”.
Is this even a word? Well, yes! Otorhinolaryngologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing the diseases of the nose, ear, and throat. The short form for this word is “ENT.” For most speakers, it might be overwhelming to pronounce the word correctly, that is, “ow·tow·rai·now·leh·ruhn·gaa·luh·juhst”. Sounds like it is one of the hardest English words to pronounce!
Speakers are often tempted to pronounce “g” without realizing that it's silent in this case. “Para-de-gm” is incorrect! You should pronounce it as “peh·ruh·dime”. The meaning of this word is closely related to “a model” of something.
The animal penguin lives in ice-cold areas, such as Antarctica. Most people don’t know that this word is pronounced as “peng·gwn”. “Pen-gu-in” is its incorrect pronunciation. Talking about the history of this word, it came from the Latin word “penguins”, meaning “fat.”
So many n(s) in there but not all are pronounced. And… the “ph” sound is also swapped with the “f” sound, which makes it “fuh·no·muh·nuhn” when pronounced. It’s a really common word, but not all speakers know its correct pronunciation.
Phlegm is challenging to pronounce. The “ph” and “g” add confusion to the speakers’ minds. “Ph” is transformed into an “f” sound and “g” is ignored while speaking. Hence, the word phlegm becomes “flem” when speaking.
This word is often uttered than its written. This is why speakers don’t know that the word that is pronounced as “nuh·mow·nyuh” has a letter “P” at the start. English speakers are tempted to pronounce the letter “p” as it occurs in its spelling.
The word starts with a prefix pre- and ends with a suffix “-ate.” It’s a four-syllable word that is pronounced as “pruh·veh·ruh·kayt”. If you closely look at the spelling and pronunciation, you’ll notice that both are kind of imitations of each other, except for the letter “e” at the end, which should be ignored while pronouncing.
The words that are borrowed from any other language often have many pronunciations. Such as Quina. It’s a food, more precisely, seeds that are cooked and eaten as a meal. The most common pronunciations of this Quinoa are: “keen·waa” and “KEN-on-ah".
Google defines remuneration as “money paid for work or a service.” It’s hard to pronounce but a common word. It should be uttered as “ruh·myoo·nr·ay·shn”. You might be aware of the word “narration”; remuneration’s ending sound is exactly how narration is pronounced, i.e., “ruh-myoo-narration.”
Another English word that is hard to pronounce is “rhythm.” Remember, “rhymes” and “rythm” are different words and are also pronounced differently. “Th” in the middle isn’t silent. While uttering this word, you just have to imitate the spellings, like, “ri·thm”.
Unlike some of the above-discussed words, rural has no silent letters. It is pronounced as “ruor·ruhl”. It is an old French word, now used as an adjective for well-established places, like, cities.
This one is a german word, where Schaden means “harm” and Freude means “joy.” This word means “pleasure that is received as a result of someone’s failure.” In other words, it's the opposite of the word “empathy.” “Shaa·duhn·froy·duh” is its correct pronunciation.
As most of the time, “c” is pronounced as “k”; thus, some speakers get confused and pronounce scissors as “skis-ors” instead of “si·zrz”. Non-native speakers might not realize that it’s a “singular” word because of the suffix -s at the end. It is used to refer to a pair of scissors.
Specific and pacific are two different words but are often pronounced the same by some people as “pae-si-fik.” In the case of specific, the “s” and “p” sounds are mistakenly swapped with each other. However, it should be noted that the word specific is not pronounced as “pacific” but as “spuh·si·fuhk”.
Guess what? This word has a “w” sound hidden in between. The vowel pair “ui” is what makes this word tricky. Most people pronounce this word as “skui-rel,” which is surprisingly incorrect. The “ui” should be pronounced as a “w” sound, so the correct pronunciation of this word is “skwi·ruhl”.
All food lovers are well aware of this sauce. It's a super-common word, but many people still pronounce it incorrectly. “Wu·stuh·shr” is how this word should be uttered.
Zephyr is a Greek word that means a soft breeze. What blows people's minds isn't the meaning, but the pronunciation, that is, "zeh·fr".
Another word with “cc.” You’ve got to pronounce the “cc” as “k,” which makes it “zoo·kee·nee”. Avoid saying “zoo-ku-ni” and “zoo-ku-ee-ni.”
From bank managers to online teachers and from HRs to colleagues, almost everyone uses English for communication.
But very few people know the correct pronunciation of the above 57 hard-to-pronounce English words discussed above.
Remember, if you don’t learn the correct pronunciations, you might fail to show off your speaking skills to the listeners.
And if you happen to be lucky enough to impress anyone with incorrect pronunciations, you might find your friends making fun of your accent. So, write all these words in your diary or simply bookmark this blog to learn and practice the correct pronunciations.
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