The pronunciations given are those in use among educated urban speakers of standard English in Britain and the United States. While avoiding strongly regionally or socially marked forms, they are intended to include the most common variants for each word. The keywords given are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.

This key is to the pronunciations given in revised entries. For pronunciations in unrevised entries, see this key.

In addition, the consonants l, m, and n can take on the function of a vowel in some unstressed syllables. It should generally be clear when this interpretation is intended, but in cases of potential ambiguity, the consonant symbol appears with a diacritic, as l̩, m̩ and n̩, as e.g. maddle /ˈmadl/, macromodelling /ˌmakrəʊˈmɒdl̩ɪŋ/; macroseism /ˌmakrəʊˈsʌɪzm/, ransoming /ˈransm̩ɪŋ/; madden
/ˈmadn/, maddening/ˈmadn̩ɪŋ/.

ᵻ represents free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/
ᵿ  represents free variation between /ʊ/ and /ə/

The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebrate  /ˈsɛrᵻˌbreɪt/ .

The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebration /ˌsɛrᵻˈbreɪʃn/.

The symbol ˈˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebrospinal /ˈˌsɛrᵻbrəʊˈspʌɪnl/.

The consonants of U.S. English are essentially the same as those used in British English, but they have a different distribution. In particular:

After a vowel, U.S. English can have /r/ regardless of the sound which follows, whereas British English retains the /r/ only when it is followed by a vowel.

Between vowels (except at the start of a stressed syllable) U.S. English has /d/ where British English has /t/.

U.S. speakers are more likely than British speakers to distinguish between wear (with /w/) and where(with either /w/ or /hw/).

ᵻ represents free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/
ᵿ represents free variation between /ʊ/ and /ə/

Where /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, or /ʊ/ is followed by /r/, an intervening /ə/ is often inserted, e.g. near /nɪ(ə)r/, square /skwɛ(ə)r/, force /fɔ(ə)rs/, cure /kjʊ(ə)r/.

The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebrate /ˈsɛrəˌbreɪt/.

The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebration /ˌsɛrəˈbreɪʃən/.

The symbol ˈˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress, as in the first syllable of cerebrospinal /ˈˌsɛrəbroʊˈspaɪnəl/.