How To Pronounce Distress

In British English, distress is pronounced /dɪˈstres/. The narrow phonetic transcription is [dɪˈstr̥es]. In American English, it is pronounced /dɪˈstres/.

Distress has two syllables, and the main stress falls on the second syllable. British and American speakers say it the same way.

Slashes / / show the phonemic transcription, the sounds that change meaning. Square brackets [ ] show the phonetic transcription, with the finer detail of how the sounds are actually made.