with-HOHL-ding
/wɪˈθhoʊldɪŋ/
withholding is pronounced with-HOHL-ding (/wɪˈθhoʊldɪŋ/). Withholding refers to the act of holding back or keeping back something, such as information, funds, or consent. It can describe a deliberate restraint or the condition of not giving or revealing something that might be expected. In legal or financial contexts, it often implies a temporary or conditional retention rather than a permanent denial.
Withholding refers to the act of holding back or keeping back something, such as information, funds, or consent. It can describe a deliberate restraint or the condition of not giving or revealing something that might be expected. In legal or financial contexts, it often implies a temporary or conditional retention rather than a permanent denial.
- You may struggle with the /ð/ sound at the start; keep your tongue tip lightly touching the upper teeth and voice the fricative clearly. - The second syllable contains a long /oʊ/; avoid reducing it to a short /o/ by exaggerating the glide in practice until steady. - The -ing ending must be realized as /ɪŋ/, not /ɪn/ or /iŋ/; keep the tongue high and the velum closed to sustain the nasal. - In rapid speech, the /ld/ can coalesce; practice with isolated syllables first, then blend into the full word to prevent “with-hold-ing” from becoming “withholdin.”
"The company faced scrutiny for withholding employee bonuses during the fiscal year."
"She admitted she was withholding her opinions until she had all the facts."
"There were accusations of withholding evidence in the trial, which could affect the verdict."
Pronounce it as wɪðˈhoʊldɪŋ in US, with a primary stress on HOULD- (the second syllable). Start with /w/ then /ɪ/ (short i), /ð/ (voiced th), then /ˈhoʊl/ (HOUL is like 'hole' with a long o), finishing with /dɪŋ/. The mouth starts with a light tongue-on-teeth friction for /ð/, then a rounded mid-back vowel in /oʊ/ before the /ld/ cluster, and ends with a clear /ŋ/. In fast speech, the /d/ may approach /ŋ/ assimilation, but keep the /d/ audible in careful speech.
Common errors: misplacing the stress, pronouncing /ð/ as /d/ or /z/; confusing /hoʊld/ with /hoʊld/ as in 'hold' vs. 'hole-ding'; and making the /ŋ/ blend into a nasalized /ŋg/ at the end. Correction: place primary stress on the second syllable: wɪðˈhoʊldɪŋ, ensure the /ð/ remains dental-fricative (tongue behind upper teeth) and the /oʊ/ is a clear long vowel; finally, keep the ending as /ŋ/ with no extra vowel after it. Practice by isolating /ˈhoʊld/ and then adding /ɪŋ/ smoothly.
In US English you’ll hear a firm /ˈhoʊld/ with a clear long o and a strong second-syllable stress: wɪðˈhoʊldɪŋ. In British English the second syllable vowel may be slightly more centralized and the /ɪ/ in the ending may be shorter, with a non-rhotic /r/ absence not affecting this word much since it doesn’t contain r. Australian English resembles General American in rhoticity but may feature a flatter /oʊ/ and a slightly reduced final syllable. The primary stress remains on the second syllable in all, but vowel quality and r-coloring differ.
The difficulty comes from the combination of a dental fricative /ð/ at the start, a diphthong /oʊ/ in the stressed syllable, and the /ld/ consonant cluster followed by the final /ɪŋ/. Many speakers blend /ld/ into a simpler /l/ or /d/ when hurried, and the final /ɪŋ/ can become a schwa-like or nasalized vowel if not careful. Focus on keeping /ð/ precise, sustain the /oʊ/ clearly, and articulate /ld/ as a concise cluster before the nasal /ŋ/.
Yes—note the primary stress on the vowel-rich second syllable, producing a strong /ˈhoʊld/ that feels heavier than the first syllable. The -ing ending requires a clean /ŋ/ without a following vowel; many learners insert a schwa in the final position when thinking English spelling, which weakens the natural rhythm. Practice by articulating the entire /ˈhoʊldɪŋ/ with a crisp start and a resonant final nasal.
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- US: rhotic accent; /r/ is not relevant here, but you’ll hear a stronger diphthong in /oʊ/. - UK: non-rhotic, but this word does not include an /r/; the main difference is vowel quality, such as a slightly more centralized /əʊ/ tendency in some regions. - AU: rhotic similar to US; expect a less pronounced final vowel length and a slightly flatter /oʊ/; keep stress on second syllable. Reference IPA: US wɪðˈhoʊldɪŋ, UK wɪðˈhəʊldɪŋ, AU wɪðˈhəʊldɪŋ. - General tip: maintain a steady breath support to avoid truncating the diphthong and ensure the /ð/ remains dental-tapped rather than dentalized.”,
The term withholding comes from Old English withholdian, from with- (against, away) + holdian (to hold). The core sense is to hold back or back away from giving. Over time, withhold broadened beyond physical restraint to include withholding consent, information, payments, or relief. In Early Modern English, it appears in legal and financial documents describing the act of retaining due payments or rights. The sense of deliberate restraint became common in policy and governance contexts, leading to phrases like tax withholding and withholding of information. By the 19th and 20th centuries, the word migrated into bureaucratic jargon and everyday usage to denote any non-disclosure or retention. The exact first known use is difficult to pinpoint due to evolving spelling, but forms like withhold and withholding appear in 15th-16th century legal texts in England, with withhold as a verb in Middle English. The modern noun form withholding the act of withholding emerged as standard in legal, accounting, and regulatory language by the 1800s and remains prevalent in contemporary usage.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "withholding" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "withholding"
-ing sounds
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