How to pronounce sigh
Say it like SY. Sigh 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 sigh. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- SY
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Sigh pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- SYSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in time.
American vs British pronunciation of sigh
American and British speakers say sigh in essentially the same way: /saɪ/ in the US and /saɪ/ in the UK.
British respelling: SY.
What does sigh mean?
- heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily“She sighed sadly”
- utter with a sigh
- an utterance made by exhaling audibly
- a sound like a person sighing“she heard the sigh of the wind in the trees”
Where does sigh come from?
From Middle English sighen (“to sigh”), back-formation from sighte, past tense form of siken, from Old English sīcan, from Proto-West Germanic *sīkan, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- (“to pour out”).
Words that rhyme with sigh
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of sigh.
Words that sound like sigh
Questions about saying sigh
How do you pronounce sigh?
Say SY. The American pronunciation is /saɪ/. In British English it is /saɪ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in sigh?
Sigh is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: SY.
Do Americans and Brits say sigh the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /saɪ/ and the British form is /saɪ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.
What words sound the same as sigh?
Sigh sounds the same as psi in American English. The spelling and meaning are what tell them apart.