Pronunciation

How to pronounce “cushion

“cushion” is pronounced /ˈkʊʃən/ (KUU-shuhn) in American English and /kʊʃən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cus”.
The sound

Say “cushion” in 2 beats

Say it like this

cushion

/ˈkʊʃən/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /kʊʃən/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. cusstress
  2. hionʃən
IPA (American)
/ˈkʊʃən/
IPA (British)
/kʊʃən/
Respelling
KUU-shuhn
Syllables
2 — CUS-hion
Stress
Stress the first syllable: CUS-hion. “cus” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun, verb
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈkʊʃən/

British

/kʊʃən/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “cushion” means

  1. noun

    a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses

    the old car needed a new set of shocks

  2. noun

    the layer of air that supports a hovercraft or similar vehicle

  3. noun

    a soft bag filled with air or a mass of padding such as feathers or foam rubber etc.

Say it in a sentence

He put a cushion behind his back and carried on reading.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

cushion”, answered

How do you pronounce “cushion”?

“cushion” is pronounced /ˈkʊʃən/ (KUU-shuhn) in American English and /kʊʃən/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cus”. Build it as CUS-hion, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “cushion” have?

2: cus · hion. The beat lands on the first, “cus”.

Is “cushion” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈkʊʃən/ (KUU-shuhn); British English says /kʊʃən/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “cushion” mean?

As a noun: a mechanical damper; absorbs energy of sudden impulses For example: “the old car needed a new set of shocks” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “cushion”?

Stress the first syllable: CUS-hion. “cus” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “cushion” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.