How to pronounce yeast
Say it like YEEST. Yeast 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 yeast. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- YEEST
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Yeast pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- YEESTSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ee" in see.
American vs British pronunciation of yeast
American and British speakers say yeast in essentially the same way: /jist/ in the US and /jiːst/ in the UK.
British respelling: YEEST.
What does yeast mean?
- a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey
- any of various single-celled fungi that reproduce asexually by budding or division
Where does yeast come from?
From Middle English yest, yeest, gest, gist, from Old English ġist, ġyst, from Proto-West Germanic *jestu, from Proto-Germanic *jestuz.
Words that rhyme with yeast
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of yeast.
Questions about saying yeast
How do you pronounce yeast?
Say YEEST. The American pronunciation is /jist/. In British English it is /jiːst/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in yeast?
Yeast is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: YEEST.
Do Americans and Brits say yeast the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /jist/ and the British form is /jiːst/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.