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How to pronounce doubt

Doubt is pronounced DOWT, rhyming with out and shout. It is one syllable, and the B is silent in both American and British English. It stays silent in doubtful and doubtless.

Say it yourself
  • 1 syllable
  • Stress on DOWT
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

doubt

One syllable

noun and verb · a feeling of not being sure; to think something may not be true

  1. DOWTdaʊt (stressed)
  • US /daʊt/DOWT Recorded voice
  • UK /daʊt/DOWT Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Doubt, sound by sound

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

USUK American and British English/daʊt/

  1. DOWTstressed

    • /d/as in did
    • /aʊ/as in now
    • /t/as in tea

Say doubt yourself

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

Tip. Say DOWT, rhyming with out. The B is silent, in doubtful too.

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

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doubt

    Common doubt pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say DOWT.

    • NotDOWBT

      Saying the B. It was added to the spelling only. Say DOWT.

    • NotDOOT

      Reading ou as in you or French doute. The vowel is the ow in out.

    • NotDOW-tuh

      Adding a vowel after the T. Stop on the T: one syllable.

    Doubt 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.

    • There is no doubt that she is right.

    • I doubt he will come to the party.

    • If in doubt, ask your teacher.

    Was the b in doubt ever pronounced?

    No. English took the word from French in the Middle Ages, and it was spelled without a B: doute, dout. It was said that way too.

    Later, scholars who admired Latin added a B to show that the word came from Latin dubitare, to be unsure. They changed the spelling, not the speech. The B has never been said in English.

    Debt got its B the same way, from Latin debitum. In words taken straight from Latin, such as dubious, the B is a real sound. In doubt, go from D straight to the ow of out.

    Words that sound like doubt

    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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