How to pronounce clothes

You may be surprised to learn that the word clothes, as in, I buy my clothes at Uniglow, is pronounced with a /z/ sound.

It sounds like this:

• cloze

And yes, Close the door, has the same pronunciation.

Below is a screenshot from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

You can actually see two possible pronunciations here. I’d use the first one.

This newz will be a relief to thoze of you who find the interdental TH sounds challenging to pronounce.

Listen here

 

• I buy my clothes at UNIglow.

The /z/ sound is very common in spoken American English.

You’ll find this sound is places that you don’t expect.

About the author

Susan Ryan is an American English communication and accent reduction coach.

Contact me with your questions about clear American speech.