List of 73 Words People Say Wrong

Antarctic	Be sure to pronounce the c in this word.
arctic	Make sure you enunciate the c in this word.
asterisk	Don't forget the s in this word, which comes before the k, not after it.
athlete	Some people insert an unnecessary syllable into this one, pronouncing it as "athelete"; it's "ath-leet," not "ath-el-eet."
Australia	Be sure to pronounce the four syllables: "aus-tra-li-ya," not "os-tra-ya."
barbed wire	Don't say "bob wire." The wire is not named after Bob.
barbiturate	It's not "barbituate," so be sure to pronounce the second r in this word.
business	"Bidness" is common in the Southern United States, but don't use this pronunciation in a formal context.
cache	Pronounced "cash" rather than "catch" or "caysh."
cacophony	Pronounced "ca-caw-fone-ee," not "caw-ca-fone-ee."
Calvary/cavalry	Sometimes confused, "Calvary" refers to the hill where Jesus Christ was crucified, while "cavalry" means mounted troops.
candidate	Sometimes pronounced "cannidate," which is incorrect.
carpal tunnel syndrome	Sometimes mistakenly called "carpool tunnel syndrome"; carpal means "pertaining to the wrist"—it has nothing to do with cars.
chaos	Always use a hard c sound; "chay-oss" and "shay-oss" are incorrect.
clothes	Be sure to pronounce the "th" sound in this word.
cornet/coronet	A "cornet" is a type of brass instrument, whereas a "coronet" is a small crown.
dilate	Pronounced "dye-late," not "dye-uh-late." It may feel natural to add an extra syllable to this word, but it's incorrect to do so.
diphtheria	The h after the p creates a soft consonant sound, not a hard one. Therefore, it is pronounced "dif-ther-i-ya."
dog-eat-dog world	Sometimes mistakenly pronounced "doggy dog world." This phrase is about harsh competition—dogs eating dogs—not dogs just being themselves.
drown	Some people tend to say "drowned" even when using the word in the present tense. Only pronounce the second d if you are speaking in the past tense.
electoral	This word does not contain an i, so don't say "electorial."
escape	Some people pronounce it as "excape." There is no x in this word, so use an s sound instead.
especially	Some people seem to instinctively insert an x in this word, making it "expecially," which is incorrect.
espresso	The word "express" leads people to expect an x in the name of this strong beverage, but it's "espresso," not "expresso."
et cetera	There is no x in "et cetera," so don't pronounce it as "excetera."
February	"Feb-you-ary" is near ubiquitous, but it's actually more correct to pronounce the r ("feb-ru-ary").
federal	Pronouned "fed-er-al," not "fed-ral."
film	The combination of l and m feels like it should create an extra syllable, but it doesn't.
fiscal	This word has two syllables; don't pronounce it like "physical."
foliage	The i comes after the l; therefore, it is pronounced "foh-lee-age," not "foy-ull-age."
for all intents and purposes	This phrase is often mistaken for "for all intensive purposes."
forte	This word is pronounced "for-tay"; the e is not silent.
foyer	In American English, it's fine to say "foy-er"—you don't need to use the French-style "foy-ay."
height	Some people pronounce this word as "heighth," rhyming it with "width,” which is incorrect.
heinous	Pronounced "hay-nus," not "hee-nus."
hierarchy	It's natural to want to contract words, but correctly pronounced this has four syllables ("hai-err-ar-key"), not two ("hai-ar-key").
larvae	“Lar-vee” is the correct pronunciation, not “lar-vay.”
larynx	Pronounced "lare-inks," not "lare-nicks." Don't reverse the y and n in this word.
lease	Some people pronounce it the same way as "leash," which has a different meaning.
liable	Be sure to pronounce the a in "liable"; omitting it results in the word "libel," which means something different.
library	Make sure to pronounce the first r in this word. Many people miss it.
masonry	This word has three syllables: "ma-son-ry," not "ma-son-a-ry."
mayonnaise	Resist the temptation to contract it to "man-naise."
mischievous	Pronounced “mis-chiv-us” rather than “mis-cheev-ee-us.”
moot	Some people want to say "mute" but this word is pronounced like it is spelled.
niche	Say "neesh" rather than "nitch."
nuclear	"Noo-kyul-er" is a common mispronunciation; “noo-klee-ur” is correct.
often	The t in this word is silent.
ordnance	Some people pronounce it as "ordinance," which completely changes the meaning.
percolate	The second vowel in the word is an o, not u, so "per-kyu-late" is an incorrect pronunciation.
peremptory	Often confused with "preemptory," the two words are pronounced differently and have distinct meanings.
perspire	This is sometimes incorrectly pronounced "prespire."
picture	Make sure you pronounce the c in this word. Many people don't.
pollute	Resist the temptation to contract this word to "plute"—it sounds lazy.
potable	Sometimes mistakenly pronounced "pottable," the correct spelling and pronunciation have a single rather than double t, creating a long o sound.
prerogative	Be careful not to omit the first r when pronouncing this word.
prescription	Use "pruh-scrip-shun" rather than the common mispronunciation "per-scrip-shun."
probably	The correct pronunciation is "prob-ab-lee," not "prob-lee."
pronunciation	The second o from "pronounce" is dropped in "pronunciation," both when spelled and spoken.
prostate	Be sure to say "pros-tate," not "pros-trate," which is a whole different word.
quinoa	Pronounced "keen-wah," not "kin-oh-ah."
relevant	"Revelant" is incorrect. Be careful not to reverse the consonant sounds in this word.
sherbet	There’s no second r to make the word "sherbert," so use a short e in the second syllable.
suite	Pronounced "sweet" rather than "soo-t."
supposedly	Sometimes pronounced as "supposably," which means “able to be supposed." Don't confuse the two words with different meanings.
tact	Many people tend to pronounce this word as "tack," which has different meanings.
tenterhooks	Some people pronounce it as "tenderhooks." Tenterhooks are not tender, so be sure to pronounce the t.
triathlon	This word has only three syllables, not four; it's "tri-ath-lon," not "tri-ath-a-lon."
utmost	Be sure to say "ut-most," not "up-most."
verbiage	Pronounced "ver-bee-age," not "ver-bage." Make sure to pronounce the i in this word.
voluptuous	Pronouncing the word as "volumptuous" is incorrect.
Wednesday	This word only has two syllables: "wenz-dey," not "wed-ners-dey."
zoology	Pronounced "zoh-ol-uh-jee" or "zu-ol-​uh-​jee," not "zoo-loh-jee."

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