How to pronounce bleach
Say it like BLEECH. Bleach is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce bleach. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- BLEECH
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Bleach pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- BLEECHSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of bleach
American and British speakers say bleach in essentially the same way: /blitʃ/ in the US and /bliːtʃ/ in the UK.
British respelling: BLEECH.
What does bleach mean?
- the whiteness that results from removing the color from something“a complete bleach usually requires several applications”
- an agent that makes things white or colorless
- the act of whitening something by bleaching it (exposing it to sunlight or using a chemical bleaching agent)
- remove color from“The sun bleached the red shirt”
- make whiter or lighter“bleach the laundry”
Where does bleach come from?
Cognate with Dutch bleken (“to bleach”), German bleichen (“to bleach”), Danish blege, Swedish bleka (“to bleach”).
Words that rhyme with bleach
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of bleach.
Questions about saying bleach
How do you pronounce bleach?
Say BLEECH. The American pronunciation is /blitʃ/. In British English it is /bliːtʃ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in bleach?
Bleach is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: BLEECH.
Do Americans and Brits say bleach the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /blitʃ/ and the British form is /bliːtʃ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.