How to pronounce “lost”
Say “lost” in one beat
lost
/lɔst/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /lɒst/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- lostlɔst
- IPA (American)
- /lɔst/
- IPA (British)
- /lɒst/
- Respelling
- LAWST
- Syllables
- 1 — lost
- Stress
- One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /lɔst/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
- Part of speech
- noun, verb, adjective
- Difficulty
- Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
American and British are not the same here
/lɔst/
/lɒst/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “lost” means
- noun
people who are destined to die soon
“the agony of the doomed was in his voice”
- verb
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
“She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat”
- verb
fail to win
“We lost the battle but we won the war”
Say it in a sentence
“She lost her keys somewhere between the car and the house.”“lost”, answered
How do you pronounce “lost”?
“lost” is pronounced /lɔst/ (LAWST) in American English and /lɒst/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /lɔst/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.
How many syllables does “lost” have?
One, despite the 1 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /lɔst/ — a single beat.
Is “lost” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /lɔst/ (LAWST); British English says /lɒst/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “lost” mean?
As a noun: people who are destined to die soon For example: “the agony of the doomed was in his voice” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “lost”?
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /lɔst/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Now say “lost” 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.