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How to pronounce debris

Debris is pronounced duh-BREE in American English, with the stress on the second syllable. In British English it is DEB-ree or DAY-bree, with the stress on the first. The S is silent in both.

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

debris

Two syllables, stress on the second

noun · broken pieces left after something has been destroyed

  1. duhdə
  2. BREEbriː (stressed)
  • US /dəˈbriː/duh-BREE Recorded voice
  • UK /ˈdeb.riː/DEB-ree Your device’s voice

Also said: UK /ˈdeɪ.briː/.

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. Cambridge also lists /ˈdeɪ.briː/ (DAY-bree) for British English. The recording is American English.

Debris, sound by sound

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

US American English/dəˈbriː/

  1. duh

    • /d/as in did
    • /ə/as in about

  2. BREEstressed

    • /b/as in bad
    • /r/as in red
    • /iː/as in see

UK British English/ˈdeb.riː/

  1. DEBstressed

    • /d/as in did
    • /e/as in bed
    • /b/as in bad

  2. ree

    • /r/as in red
    • /iː/as in see

Say debris yourself

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

Tip. End on BREE. The S is silent, as it is in French.

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

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debris

    Common debris pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say duh-BREE.

    • NotDEB-ris

      Saying the S. It is silent: the word ends on ee.

    • NotDEE-bree

      Reading the first E as in decent. It is a weak duh in the US, or DEB or DAY in the UK.

    • Notduh-BREEZ

      Adding a Z because the word looks plural. Debris has no S or Z sound at all.

    Debris 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.

    • Workers cleared the debris after the storm.

    • Space debris can damage satellites.

    • Watch out for broken glass and other debris.

    Why is the s in debris silent?

    Debris is a French word, débris, built from dé- and bris, broken. French does not say an S at the end of most words, and English kept that sound along with the spelling.

    The stress depends on the accent. Americans put it at the end, close to the French: duh-BREE. British speakers moved it to the front: DEB-ree, or DAY-bree, which Cambridge also lists.

    Debris is uncountable, so it never takes a plural S sound either. End the word on the ee vowel and stop.

    Words that sound like debris

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

    More words with silent letters

    All 170 difficult words

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