English spellings/Catalogs/U

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
Use in English
Alphabetical word list
Retroalphabetical list
Common misspellings

This page lists pronunciations of English words that begin with U. To see a different letter navigate with the table above. The apostrophe is treated as the last letter of the alphabet, after Z.

For a pronunciation key, click on the blue "Catalogs" link below the article title.^[e]

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Û = yoû person

UÈFA *yu-wâfə (≈ BrE yoû wâfer), *yu-wêfə

Ugánda Yû-, BrE = yoû gánder; some AmE Ugànda

uh *ə (the schwa sound alone), úh *ú, AmE equivalent to BrE ër

úh ôh oh, no!

uhúh yes = uh húh, uh-huh, *ú-hú, *ə-hə; according to the Urban Dictionary website, one must not confuse this with uh-uh, which is presumably a variant of úh ôh, above, as it means no [1]

Uìghur *Wêeger, rhyming with êager, Sêeger

Ûíst *Yûwist

Ûkip *Yûkip (officially all capitals)

Ukrâine (-âine, not -âne) = yoû crâne

ukulèlê, ukelèlê *yûkə-lâylêe

últimate

ultimâtum

Ûlyssês *Yoôlisêez

umbílical

ùmlàùt *oòmlòwt

ún- not is not a word, so adds a hyphen when not joined to a word

unbéarable

unbêatable

unchàrted unmapped, unknown, cf. unchàrtered charterless

únderdog one word

úndergròund adjective before noun, metro, one word; otherwise under gròund

underlîe

underrâted -rr-

understánd one word

undertâke

únder wây or underwây

undesîrable

undo -û

undûe -yu

ÛNICEF YÛ-

únidéntified

ûnít yû-

unîte yû-

unîted

ûnity yû-

unknôwn - silent k, so lengthened 'double' n sounded: *ún-nôwn

unnôticed - two n’s sounded

unpálatable

unprécedented (-préss-), cf. président (préz-)

unscâthed -dhd

untíl

untîtled no ún-, cf. entîtled yes

únto *úntû, unlike ínto and ónto, used in modern English only in certain set expressions (e.g. do únto òthers *dû úntû úthers, tâke únto themsélves)

unwìêldy, cf. wìeld, wêir, wêird

upón on, time, cf. úp ón

úprŏar

ür- original = ër pause

Ûral Yû-

Urálic Yû-

Urânus *Yərânəss, traditionally: *Yùrənəss is a euphemism to avoid sounding like your ânus, though it sounds like ûrine us

ürban town ër-

urbâne civilised

ürchin

Ürdu, Ûrdu

Urîah Hêep Dickens, band cf. hêap pile

ûríne yû-

urînal yû-

ürn ashes = ëarn money = ërne eagle

Ürquhart -quh- *Ürkət, *Ürcàrt, *Ïrk-heàrt

Ürsula -syələ or palatalised to -shələ

Ùruguay Yù- or Yû-

ÛS America *yû-wéss, cf. ús we; American usage insists on 'U.S.', which avoids confusion with 'us' in uppercase contexts, such as tickers

ûse Usual use: noun *yoôss as in Ẁhat ís the ûse?, verb *yoôz as in Ûse mîne; hence the pronunciation of ûses depends on whether it is the singular verb *yoôziz or the plural noun *yoôssiz. In Díd hê ûse to gô thére?, however, ûse *yoôss is an infinitive verb, not a noun. (While no difference in pronunciation is distinguishable, being unvoiced *yoôstə in both cases, some prefer to write Díd (hê) ûsed to—or in the negative dídn't (hê) ûsed to—albeit ungrammatically as díd and ûsed are both in the past tense, against the normal rules.)

ûsed use *yoôzd as in ûsed càrs; habituated *yoôst as in Î’m ûsed to thát and wê ûsed to gô thére (compare ûsed to, *yoôstu, *yoôstə, and ûse to, *yoôztu, a much rarer imperative: Ûse [this in order] to...)

usürp yu-

ûsury y-

Ûtàh *Yû-

Ûtàhn, Ûtahan

uténsil rhymes with péncil and sténcil

Utôpia Yû-, cf. eûlogy, also yû-

Uttóxeter Yû-