The 10 Toughest English Language Words to Pronounce

Nobody ever said English was an easy language to learn. In fact, many people will tell you that it’s one of the hardest languages to learn! Even for those who are native speakers like us, we seem to get surprised nearly every day by the way a word is pronounced or used or whether it might have a completely different definition than what we expected and thought it to hold.

So, to say English is challenging is an understatement. And if you’ve learned it as a second (or third, fourth, or more) language, our hats are off to ya! In that light, then, let’s have a little fun. In this list today, we will look at ten English language words that are practically impossible to pronounce. They’ve been known to trip up linguists, scholars, authors, writers, and voracious readers alike. Will they trip you up, too? Only one way to find out….

Related: 10 Bizarre People Behind Everyday Words

10 GIF

The man who created the Graphics Interchange Format—or “GIF,” as it has come to be known—has one way of pronouncing this acronym. And the rest of us see it differently. According to Steve Wilhite himself, the best way to pronounce “GIF” is with a soft “G.” He first created the technology back in 1987. So we should probably listen to him when he tells the world time and again to say something like “JIF.” Think of the peanut butter brand if it helps.

But there’s something so wrong about that, isn’t there? After all, the “G” in “graphics” is a hard “G.” So wouldn’t it make sense to call the quickie acronym by that same starting sound? We submit that yes… yes, it would. But no dice! Even though there’s literally a Wikipedia page focused entirely on the debate around how to pronounce “GIF,” and even though most of the online world would seem to agree with us on the matter, Wilhite has remained resolute. “JIF” is how it’s supposed to be, he insists. Bah, humbug.^[1]

9 Gnocchi

The pronunciation of this word seems so simple once you see it laid out phonetically. It’s easy! No problems! Just call it “NYOH-kee,” and you’re good! Okay… maybe we were lying about it being simple once it’s laid out phonetically. That’s still damn hard to say! But that’s the way you are supposed to say it. “Gnocchi” is, of course, an Italian word. And the food it defines is as delicious as any—a dumpling-like dish made from potatoes that has been popular in Italy for ages and ages.

Thus, whenever a difficult word represents a particularly delicious food, we better learn how to pronounce it properly. (Which, get ready, y’all—there are definitely a few more of these food-related words in this list!) Anyway, while the pronunciation is a bit challenging, and the phonetic spelling doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue either, we recommend you just bookmark this page before the next time you go out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Your future hungry self will appreciate you for it!^[2]

8 Mischievous

This is always a fun word about which you can get into worked-up debates with your friends. For some of us, it’s pronounced “mis-CHEEVE-ee-us.” For others, you are supposed to say “MIS-chiv-us.” And maybe there’s a third weird and wacky way to pronounce it, too, that we aren’t aware of. But here’s the deal: no matter how vigorous the debate over those two options may become, there’s really only one way to say it: “MIS-chiv-us.”

“Mischievous” is one of those weird words that, for no apparent reason, has taken on a pronunciation life of its own. At some point, people started dropping the completely wrong pronunciation into the world, and it stuck. But there might be a (small) answer to that little issue. In the early 1700s, there was an extra “i” in the word. That’s right! Three centuries ago, it was actually spelled “mischievious.” Try that today, and you’ll get the little red squiggly spell check line staring at you in the face. But that’s how it was back then… and possibly why there are still some holdovers for the incorrect pronunciation.^[3]

7 Nguyen

Okay, so this isn’t a word in the same sense as many of the other words on this list. It’s more like a proper name. A surname, to be exact! And if we are getting technical, it is by far the most common surname in Vietnam. If you visit that beautiful country in Southeast Asia, you’ll see that “Nguyen” is as common a last name as Smith or Jones here in America. It’s everywhere! So, you should probably know how to pronounce it. Especially because its spelling does not make it obvious exactly.

The pronunciation here is actually pretty simple… and it offers you three choices. Some Vietnamese people swear it’s pronounced “enn-WIN,” with the first “n” spoken out loud. Some say you drop that first letter “N” (“enn”) and simply pronounce it as “win.” Still, others have insisted it should be said: “noo-yen.” That last option is definitely not as commonly used as the first two, for what it’s worth. But now you know the landscape, and you can at least grapple with it semi-intelligently when it comes up next time!^[4]

6 Isthmus

If you don’t know geography very well, an isthmus is a very narrow spit of land that is meant to link two larger pieces of land between two bodies of water. It’s a strange word, too, with that troublesome “th” placed smack-dab in the middle of it. Heck, the “th” sound doesn’t even exist in some languages (looking at you, German and Dutch!), so it is complicated for non-English speakers to say. It’s also tricky for English speakers to pronounce it correctly, though. After all, how would you say it? Can you guess?

If you don’t already know, the correct way to say “isthmus” is “ISS-muss.” So, even though there’s that “th” in the middle of the thing sticking out like a sore thumb, you don’t even acknowledge it when you say the word. Just move right on past it like it doesn’t even exist. At least that simplifies things a bit!^[5]

5 Charcuterie

Who here loves snack boards? Obviously, charcuterie has been around for a very long time. But it seems like snack boards in that classy vein have become super popular again in recent years. Smoked meats, cheese, fruits, and crackers—all become a trendy little party surprise. And we’re here for it! Charcuterie boards are delicious. We’re just left with one little problem: When the party host comes over to us with their snack board in tow, how are we supposed to sound smart, hip, and cosmopolitan by correctly pronouncing its name?

Well, thankfully, we’re on the case—for ourselves and for you. The word “charcuterie” looks like a mouthful, but it’s deceptively simple. You just have to be sure you get the second syllable correct because that’ll make or break the whole thing. And thus, you pronounce it like this: “shar-KOO-tuh-ree.” That’s right; there’s no “you” sound in the second syllable, as you might have thought. Don’t say “kyoo” when it comes up. Keep cool by saying “koo.” And then stuff your face!^[6]

4 Pho

Let’s keep going with the famously fun food trend as far as difficult pronunciations are concerned. But while “charcuterie” has a lot of letters and a lot of syllables, “pho” is so simple. Deceptively simple. Too simple. Far too simple. Our initial inclination is to pronounce it exactly how it sounds and draw out the “o” at the end of the word. You know—something like “foh.” But no! Amazingly, that’s actually incorrect.

The popular Vietnamese soup-laden dish is actually best pronounced as the Vietnamese themselves do it: “fuh.” That’s right, y’all. The “o” in “pho” is supposed to be spoken as an “uh” sound. It seems counterintuitive to us English speakers, but that’s the reality. Don’t feel too bad if you screwed that up, though; something tells us thousands of people have made that exact same mistake. At least now you know the truth!^[7]

3 Omicron

We shudder to even see this word anymore after its use as a title for one of the most recent COVID-19 pandemic variants, but here we are. It’s not just a coronavirus reference, though. Omicron, of course, is a Greek letter that is basically written as an “o” in daily use. It should be so simple to pronounce, too, right? After all, in English, the letter “o” is just pronounced, uh, “o.” Or “oh” if you want to be technical, we suppose. But that’s simple! So, what gives, Greece?

Anyway, our little rant is complete. Let’s talk about pronunciation. To be correct, when you reference the Greek letter (or the COVID variant), you are supposed to say “OH-muh-krahn.” Hit the first syllable particularly hard and cut through quickly on the last two. And voila! You’re speaking Greek. Sort of.^[8]

2 Açaí

Continuing with the commonplace food theme here in this list, let’s transition to one of the world’s foremost health foods: açaí. This delicious thing is actually a species of palm tree that can be found all across the South Pacific and through many parts of Southeast Asia. It produces a delicious fruit that is one of the tastiest natural morsels on the planet and also one of the healthiest to eat. Many people regard açaí fruit as a “superfood” for its variety of health benefits. It is supposed to be ideal for digestion, metabolism, weight loss, and all that good stuff.

While the fruit is wonderful, the word is a mouthful. Though it’s only four letters, açaí has two weird accent marks and a million strange attempts at mispronunciation. So let’s set the record straight once and for all. The way to correctly say açaí is to soften the “c” and hit the final syllable the hardest. Like this: “ahh-sah-EEE.” It all seems so simple once you learn it, right? Delicious on the palate, tough on the tongue.^[9]

1 Worcestershire

We’ve definitely saved the best (or, uh, the worst) for last. If you get a visceral reaction just by seeing this word, you aren’t alone. We do, too. Sure, Worcestershire sauce might be tasty and the perfect complement to the right savory dish. But that doesn’t mean we like to order it when we go out to a restaurant. No, instead of saying its name, we more often just say to the waiter, “Yeah, uh, we’ll have that one sauce with our dinner. You know the one. The ‘W’ sauce from England. Thanks!” And that usually works.

But now that we’re here, we might as well dive in, right? So, let’s do this. Worcestershire sauce is obviously named for the town of Worcester, England, where it originated. And that town’s name is pronounced “WOO-ster,” even though there’s an “r” and a “c” in there. You just don’t say those letters. Then, the “shire” at the end of the sauce isn’t fully pronounced like you might think; instead, it’s spoken like you’d say the end of the state name “New Hampshire.” Thus, “Worcestershire” is supposed to be said like this: “WOO-ster-shur.” There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?^[10]