How to pronounce salt
Say it like SAWLT. Salt 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 salt. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- SAWLT
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Salt pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- SAWLTSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "aw" in law.
American vs British pronunciation of salt
American and British speakers say salt in essentially the same way: /sɔlt/ in the US and /sɔːlt/ in the UK.
British respelling: SAWLT.
What does salt mean?
- a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
- white crystalline form of especially sodium chloride used to season and preserve food
- negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 in Helsinki designed to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons
- add salt to
- sprinkle as if with salt“the rebels had salted the fields with mines and traps”
- add zest or liveliness to“She salts her lectures with jokes”
- (of speech) painful or bitter“salt scorn”“a salt apology”
Where does salt come from?
Cognate with Dutch zout, German Salz, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish salt.
Words that rhyme with salt
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of salt.
Questions about saying salt
How do you pronounce salt?
Say SAWLT. The American pronunciation is /sɔlt/. In British English it is /sɔːlt/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in salt?
Salt is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: SAWLT.
Do Americans and Brits say salt the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /sɔlt/ and the British form is /sɔːlt/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.