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How to pronounce croissant

Croissant is pronounced kwah-SAHNT in American English, with the stress on the end, and KWAS-on in British English, stressed on the start. Another common US form is kruh-SAHNT.

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  • 2 syllables
  • Stress on SAHNT
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

croissant

Two syllables, stress on the second

noun · a light, curved pastry made with butter

  1. kwahkwɑː
  2. SAHNTsɑːnt (stressed)
  • US /kwɑːˈsɑːnt/kwah-SAHNT Recorded voice
  • UK /ˈkwæs.ɒ̃/KWAS-on Your device’s voice

Also said: US /krəˈsɑːnt/ or /kwɑːˈsɑ̃ː/.

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Cambridge also lists /krəˈsɑnt/ for American English. The nasal ending in French is written ɒ̃ or ɑ̃. The recording is American English.

Croissant, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

US American English/kwɑːˈsɑːnt/

  1. kwah

    • /k/as in cat
    • /w/as in wet
    • /ɑː/as in father

  2. SAHNTstressed

    • /s/as in see
    • /ɑː/as in father
    • /n/as in now
    • /t/as in tea

UK British English/ˈkwæs.ɒ̃/

  1. KWASstressed

    • /k/as in cat
    • /w/as in wet
    • /æ/as in cat
    • /s/as in see

  2. on

    • /ɒ̃/as in a French nasal vowel

Say croissant yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes croissant, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. US: kwah-SAHNT, with the stress at the end. UK: KWAS-on, with a light nasal on.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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croissant

    Common croissant pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say kwah-SAHNT.

    • NotKROY-sant

      Reading oi as in coin. In this French word it is closer to wa.

    • Notkroh-SANT

      Reading o as in go and a as in cat. The vowels are different: kwah-SAHNT.

    • NotKROSS-ant

      Stressing the first syllable in American English. The usual US stress is at the end.

    Croissant in a sentence

    Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.

    • I had a croissant and coffee for breakfast.

    • The croissant was warm and full of butter.

    • Would you like a croissant with jam?

    How do you say croissant in English?

    Croissant is a French word, so the English pronunciation depends on how close you want to be to French. In French it starts with a kw sound and ends with a soft nasal vowel, not an n and a t.

    In American English, kwah-SAHNT is the form closest to French, and kruh-SAHNT, which says the r, is also listed and very common. In British English the stress moves to the start: KWAS-on, with a soft nasal ending.

    The word means crescent in French, the present form of a verb meaning to grow, and the pastry has that curved shape. English crescent is the same word. Choose one form and keep the stress in the right place.

    Words that sound like croissant

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

    More words from other languages

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