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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “customs”

“customs” is pronounced /ˈkʌstəmz/ (KU-stuhmz) in American English and /kʌstəmz/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cus”.
The sound

Say “customs” in 2 beats

Say it like this

customs

/ˈkʌstəmz/

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

2 beats
  1. cuskʌstress
  2. tomsstəmz
IPA (American)
/ˈkʌstəmz/
IPA (British)
/kʌstəmz/
Respelling
KU-stuhmz
Syllables
2 — CUS-toms
Stress
Stress the first syllable: CUS-toms. “cus” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈkʌstəmz/

British

/kʌstəmz/

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

Meaning

What “customs” means

  1. noun

    money collected under a tariff

  2. noun

    accepted or habitual practice

  3. noun

    a specific practice of long standing

Say it in a sentence

“We paid customs on the guitar he brought back from Spain.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
kkʌshort ussttəschwammzz

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

Questions

“customs”, answered

How do you pronounce “customs”?

“customs” is pronounced /ˈkʌstəmz/ (KU-stuhmz) in American English and /kʌstəmz/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “cus”. Build it as CUS-toms, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “customs” have?

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

Is “customs” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈkʌstəmz/ (KU-stuhmz); British English says /kʌstəmz/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “customs” mean?

As a noun: money collected under a tariff For example: “We paid customs on the guitar he brought back from Spain.” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “customs”?

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

Practise this word

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