One syllable: Hurt.
hurt
/hɝt/
Hurt is pronounced hurt (/hɝt/). It has one syllable (Hurt), with the stress on "Hurt". Hurt is a versatile verb meaning to cause physical pain or injury, or to feel pain or emotional distress. It can describe an action that wounds the body or heart, and it also appears in idioms like 'hurt your feelings' or 'be hurt by comments.' The term frequently expresses impact, damage, or suffering, and is used across informal and formal registers depending on context.
verbHurt is a versatile verb meaning to cause physical pain or injury, or to feel pain or emotional distress. It can describe an action that wounds the body or heart, and it also appears in idioms like 'hurt your feelings' or 'be hurt by comments.' The term frequently expresses impact, damage, or suffering, and is used across informal and formal registers depending on context.
How to Pronounce Hurt
"The fall hurt his knee, and he needed a bandage."
"She didn’t mean to hurt you with what she said."
"The news of the breakup hurt him deeply."
Hurt is pronounced with the /h/ sound followed by the vowel /ɜː/ (UK) or /ɜr/ (US); in all cases the /t/ is a light, unreleased consonant at the end. Typical US pronunciation: /hɜrt/. UK: /hɜːt/. AU: /hɜːt/. The key is a mid-central vowel with slight r-coloring in rhotic accents. Keep the tongue low-mid, mouth relaxed, and release quickly into the final /t/. Listen for a short, crisp final stop. Audio references: standard dictionaries provide example clips.
Common mistakes: 1) Releasing the final /t/ too forcefully, making it a strong 't' instead of a light, unreleased sound; 2) Overpronouncing the /ɜː/ or misplacing it as /ɪ/ or /ɜ/ leading to a flatter vowel; 3) Dropping the initial /h/ or making it silent in rapid speech. Corrections: keep /h/ as a voiceless fricative at the start, use a mid-central /ɜː/ (or /ɜr/ in rhotic accents) without trailing 'r' coloring, and end with a quick, lightly aspirated /t/ or unreleased /t/ depending on speech style.
In US English, /hɜrt/ with rhotacized /ɜr/ if followed by an /r/, and a clear /t/ at the end. UK English tends toward /hɜːt/ with a longer /ɜː/ vowel and non-rhoticity, so the /r/ is not pronounced after the vowel unless text provides an /r/; final /t/ remains. Australian English generally mirrors UK with /hɜːt/ or /hɜːt/ depending on speaker, but can be slightly more centralized vowels and fast flapped or lightly pronounced /t/ in casual speech. IPA references: US /hɜrt/, UK /hɜːt/, AU /hɜːt/.
The difficulty centers on the mid-central vowel /ɜː/ and the tense quality required to avoid sounding like /hɜrt/ with a lax vowel. Speakers often mispronounce as /hɪrt/ or merge with /hurt/ differently in accents where /ɜː/ shifts. The final /t/ can be glottalized in some dialects, or released too much in rapid casual speech, altering clarity. Focus on a clean mid-central vowel and a precise, light /t/ during final closure.
In many English varieties, especially before a following consonant or in rapid speech, the final /t/ can be unreleased or replaced by a glottal stop /ʔ/. In careful speech, you’ll hear a clear /t/; in casual speech, you may hear /hɜːʔ/ or /hɜːt/ with minimal aspiration. The identity of the preceding vowel remains the same, but listeners may rely on the rhythm and context to interpret the word when the /t/ is reduced.
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Hurt comes from Old English hurtan, which meant to injure or to wound. Its Proto-Germanic ancestor may be *hurtiz, related to the Old High German hurtian and Dutch verteren, signaling damage or harm. The sense extended from physical injury to also include emotional pain and suffering, a pathway common in Germanic languages where verbs for damage pair with abstract pain. By Middle English, hurt appeared in both transitive and intransitive forms, serving as a general term for injury, pain, or suffering. The word’s flexibility intensified as English speakers adopted phrases like “to hurt someone’s feelings” and “to be hurt by words,” broadening its semantic field. In modern usage, hurt remains a common, irregular verb with strong collocational ties to physical harm (hurt your ankle) and emotional distress (hurt by rumors). First known use dates back to Old English records, with attestations in religious and medical texts that discuss injury, pain, and healing. Over centuries, it evolved into a staple verb in everyday language, carrying precise connotations of damage, vulnerability, and impact across contexts.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Hurt" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Hurt" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Hurt"
-irt sounds
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