How to pronounce heart
Say it like HART. Heart 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 heart. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- HART
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Heart pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- HARTSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ah" in father.
American vs British pronunciation of heart
- Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead.
British respelling: HAHT.
What does heart mean?
- the locus of feelings and intuitions“in your heart you know it is true”“her story would melt your bosom”
- the hollow muscular organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs; its rhythmic contractions move the blood through the body“he stood still, his heart thumping wildly”
- the courage to carry on“he kept fighting on pure spunk”“you haven't got the heart for baseball”
Where does heart come from?
The spelling ⟨ear⟩ for /ɑː(ɹ)/ is paralleled by hearken and hearth, but is problematic since an Early Modern variant with /ɛːr/ can be posited for those words, but not heart.
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with heart
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of heart.
Words that sound like heart
Questions about saying heart
How do you pronounce heart?
Say HART. The American pronunciation is /hɑrt/. In British English it is /hɑːt/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in heart?
Heart is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: HART.
Is heart pronounced differently in British English?
Yes. Americans pronounce the r after a vowel; most British speakers leave it silent and lengthen the vowel instead. The British form is /hɑːt/ (HAHT).
What words sound the same as heart?
Heart sounds the same as hart in American English. The spelling and meaning are what tell them apart.