Pronunciation · Work and business

How to pronounce debt

The b in debt is silent: CMUdict gives DET (D EH1 T), one syllable that rhymes with "bet".

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The dictionary sound sequence

CMUdict lists this North American English pronunciation for debt. Read each sequence from left to right. The numbers mark vowel stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

Dictionary variant 1

D EH1 T

Syllable estimate: 1 vowel nucleus
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

Check debt in Merriam-Webster and listen to available dictionary audio.

Syllable counts come from vowel tokens; CMUdict does not supply syllable boundaries here. Variant order follows the dictionary and does not rank correctness. This lexicon does not represent every accent or context.

Use debt in context

Debt runs through finance articles, budgeting videos and news about loans. The b was added to the spelling to echo Latin and is not sounded. Only three sounds remain, d, e and t, and debtor keeps the b silent too.

They paid off the credit card debt in eighteen months.
Student debt came up in every interview we recorded.

Read the sound tokens

Each example word below is a cue for the named sound, rather than a respelling of debt. Unstressed vowels may sound reduced. These cues follow the CMU phoneme-set key (Appendix A).

Dsound in deeconsonant

EHsound in Edvowel

Tsound in teaconsonant

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Make an audition worksheet

Select a dictionary variant for your checklist. The two original sentences retain their normal spelling; this worksheet helps you review a recording rather than forcing a speech engine to use phonemes.

Worksheet pronunciation variant

Your plain-text audition worksheet

How to pronounce debt

Word: debt
Dictionary variant: 1 of 1
CMUdict ARPABET: D EH1 T
Vowel nuclei / estimated syllables: 1
Primary stress: 1st vowel position

ORIGINAL AUDITION SCRIPT
They paid off the credit card debt in eighteen months.
Student debt came up in every interview we recorded.

REVIEW CHECKLIST
[ ] Read both sentences naturally; keep the source wording.
[ ] Compare the intended pronunciation with the selected dictionary variant.
[ ] Listen for vowel sounds, consonants, and word stress in context.
[ ] Check with a speaker or another dictionary when accent or meaning matters.
[ ] Generate and listen to a short Murmur sample before exporting the full script.

Practice note: Bet with a d in front is all it takes. Read debt and doubt together, since both hide a b the same way.

CMUdict is a North American English lexicon, not a recording or a complete accent guide.
Variant order is dictionary order; it is not a ranking of correctness.
Source: https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/blob/74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690/cmudict.dict
Source commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690
License: https://www.murmurtts.com/downloads/cmudict-license.txt
Reference: https://www.murmurtts.com/pronunciation/debt

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Dictionary source

The phonemes on this page come from CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. The dictionary maintainers acknowledge that errors and omissions can remain; check another source or a speaker when the pronunciation matters.

CMUdict README · Included dictionary license

Source version and checksum

Commit: 74790861f652b15e4ac49015a90074ad62a27690

Dictionary SHA-256: 81917843c7f44ce2b094ac63873c2c7a4cf802040792c455ba3ca406891c3d22

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