How to pronounce sloth
Say it like SLOHTH. Sloth 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 sloth. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- SLOHTH
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Sloth pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- SLOHTHSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "o" in go.
American vs British pronunciation of sloth
American and British speakers say sloth in essentially the same way: /sloʊθ/ in the US and /slɒθ/ in the UK.
British respelling: SLOTH.
What does sloth mean?
- Laziness; slowness of mind; disinclination to action or labor; a feeling combining indifference and lethargy; a dragging idleness.“Hot summer days inspire a sense of sloth in me.”
- Any member of species of the families Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae of herbivorous, arboreal South American mammals, noted for its slowness and inactivity.
- Any of the extinct group of ground sloths.
Where does sloth come from?
From Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow + -th
Similar and opposite words
Opposite meaning
Words that rhyme with sloth
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of sloth.
Questions about saying sloth
How do you pronounce sloth?
Say SLOHTH. The American pronunciation is /sloʊθ/. In British English it is /slɒθ/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in sloth?
Sloth is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: SLOHTH.
Do Americans and Brits say sloth the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /sloʊθ/ and the British form is /slɒθ/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.