Is “clothes” one or two syllables?
“clothes” has 1 or 2 syllables, depending on how you say it. Most dictionaries count 1. KLOHZ (1) vs KLOH-thiz (2, from the spelling).
Every pronunciation, counted
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KLOHTHZ | /ˈkloʊðz/ | k l ow dh z | 1 | CMU dictionary |
| KLOHZ | /ˈkloʊz/ | k l ow z | 1 | CMU dictionary |
| KLOH-thiz | /ˈkloʊ.ðɪz/ | k l ow · dh ih z | 2 | added |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Why the count varies
Dropped sounds and spelling pronunciations. The spelling suggests a syllable that ordinary speech does not have (busi-ness, Wed-nes-day, clo-thes). Readers count the letters; listeners count the sounds.
Dictionaries give only one syllable for “clothes”. The other count is something people hear in speech rather than a standard pronunciation.
What the dictionaries say
- Cambridge (UK) /kləʊðz/
- Cambridge (US) /kloʊðz/, /kloʊz/
- Wiktionary /kləʊ(ð)z/ (RP), /kloʊ(ð)z/ (US), /klo(ð)z/ (Scotland), /kloː(ð)z/ (Wales,non-toe-tow)
For haiku, sonnets and song lyrics
For haiku, sonnets and other syllable-counted verse, 'clothes' is safest as 1 syllable, the count most dictionaries give. Poets have also used it as 2 syllables; either scans if the line is read naturally, but say which you mean if the count matters (haiku judges usually accept the dictionary count).
Count syllables in your own text
Paste a line or a whole poem: syllables, stress, IPA and meter, free and in your browser.
Open the syllable counter →Related words
Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, checked against Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary transcriptions. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.