How to pronounce miss
Say it like MIS. Miss 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 miss. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- MIS
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Miss pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- MISSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of miss
American and British speakers say miss in essentially the same way: /mɪs/ in the US and /mɪs/ in the UK.
British respelling: MIS.
What does miss mean?
- fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind“I missed that remark”“She missed his point”
- feel or suffer from the lack of“He misses his mother”
- fail to attend an event or activity“I missed the concert”“He missed school for a week”
- a young female“a young lady of 18”
- a failure to hit (or meet or find etc)
- a form of address for an unmarried woman
Where does miss come from?
Noun from Middle English misse, mis, from Old English miss (“loss, absence”), from Proto-West Germanic *miss, from Proto-Germanic *miss- (“loss”).
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Opposite meaning
Words that rhyme with miss
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of miss.
Questions about saying miss
How do you pronounce miss?
Say MIS. The American pronunciation is /mɪs/. In British English it is /mɪs/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in miss?
Miss is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: MIS.
Do Americans and Brits say miss the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /mɪs/ and the British form is /mɪs/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.