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How to pronounce thumb

Thumb is pronounced THUM, with one syllable. The b at the end is silent, so it rhymes with come, some and drum. Start with the soft th, then say the vowel of cup.

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

thumb

One syllable

noun · the short, thick finger at the side of your hand

  1. THUMθʌm (stressed)
  • US /θʌm/THUM Recorded voice
  • UK /θʌm/THUM Your device’s voice

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

Thumb, sound by sound

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

USUK American and British English/θʌm/

  1. THUMstressed

    • /θ/as in thin
    • /ʌ/as in cup
    • /m/as in man

Say thumb yourself

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

Tip. Say THUM, like come. The b is silent. Put your tongue between your teeth for th.

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

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thumb

    Common thumb pronunciation mistakes

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

    • NotTHUM-buh

      Saying the b and adding a vowel after it. The word ends on the m.

    • NotTUM

      Turning th into t. Put your tongue tip between your teeth for the th.

    • NotTHOOM

      Reading the u as oo. It is the short vowel of cup.

    Thumb 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 hurt my thumb when I closed the door.

    • The thumb is the shortest finger on your hand.

    • The baby sucks her thumb when she is tired.

    Why is the b in thumb silent?

    The b is only in the spelling. Old English had the word as thuma, with no b at all. In the Middle Ages scribes wrote thombe or thoumbe, and after the sound m that extra b was never really needed.

    Today the sound is simple: th, then the vowel of cup, then m. The same thing happens in climb, lamb, comb, bomb and crumb. In all of them the b follows an m at the end of the word and says nothing.

    Many learners also find the th hard. Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth, push out a little air, and then say um. If you stop on the m, the word is finished.

    Words that sound like thumb

    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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