How to pronounce açaí

Short answer: açaí has three syllables, with the stress on the last one: ah-sah-EE (/ˌɑːsɑːˈiː/), close to how Brazilians say it. Many English speakers say ah-sigh-EE (/ˌɑːsaɪˈiː/), and dictionaries accept both. Oxford Learner's Dictionaries also lists a-SIGH-ee, with the stress in the middle, for both British and American English. The one thing that's always wrong is "a-KAI": the ç in açaí is an S, not a K.

Listen

Is it ah-sah-EE or ah-sigh-EE?

Both. English speakers have settled on several versions of the açaí pronunciation, and dictionaries list the ones educated speakers actually use:

If you want to sound like a Brazilian, say ah-sah-EE. If you just want to be understood in a café in New York or London, ah-sigh-EE is fine. Merriam-Webster sums up the key point: stress the last syllable, like the end of the name Marie.

What isn't on any list:

• "a-KAI" or "ah-KYE": reading the c as a K.
• "AH-sigh": two syllables, with the last one swallowed.

Açaí is hard for British speakers too: in a 2026 survey of 2,000 UK adults for Škoda UK, it topped the list of Britain's most mispronounced words.

Why is açaí pronounced that way?

Açaí is Brazilian Portuguese, and two marks in its spelling carry the pronunciation:

• The cedilla on ç makes it an S. In Portuguese, c before a is a K; ç is an S. English spelling usually drops the cedilla, and acai starts to look like "a-kai".
• The accent on í makes the last syllable separate and stressed. Without it, a Portuguese reader would also merge ai into one sound. With it, the word splits into three syllables: a-ça-í.

The word itself comes from Tupi or a related Indigenous language of Brazil. It's often said to mean "fruit that cries" or "fruit that expels water", but dictionaries are more careful: Merriam-Webster traces it to a Tupi word that combines "fruit" with an element of uncertain meaning, and dates the first known use in English to about 1861.

How to say açaí step by step

1. ah: an open, relaxed vowel, as in father.
2. sah: a clear S, never a K. Keep the same "ah" vowel (or say "sigh" for the common English version).
3. EE: the stressed syllable. Make it a little longer and higher than the other two, as in see.

Put it together slowly: ah · sah · EE. Then say it at normal speed, keeping all three syllables. If it comes out as two ("ah-sigh"), you've dropped the stress on the end.

Practice in a sentence

• I'll have an açaí bowl with granola and banana.
• Is it ah-sah-EE or ah-sigh-EE? Either is fine, just not "a-KAI".
• Açaí comes from a palm tree in the Amazon.

The cedilla works the same way in other words English has borrowed. American pronunciations, from the Cambridge Dictionary:

For more borrowed words that trip people up, see how to pronounce quinoa, lychee, gnocchi and pho, or our list of 45 commonly mispronounced words.

What is açaí?

Açaí is the small, dark purple fruit of the Euterpe oleracea palm, which grows in the rainforests of Central and South America. The açaí bowl comes from Brazil's açaí na tigela: thick, chilled pulp topped with granola, banana and other fruit. According to a 2026 US Department of Agriculture report, Brazil produces about 99% of the world's açaí, and the United States is its biggest export market. In January 2026, a Brazilian law named açaí and cupuaçu the country's national fruits.

Sources

• Merriam-Webster — acai, pronunciation and etymology, and More commonly mispronounced words
• Cambridge Dictionary — açaí; Oxford Learner's Dictionaries — açai
• Dictionary.com — açaí; Collins — açaí
• Wiktionary — açaí; Wikipedia — Portuguese orthography and Açaí palm
• US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service — The Global Açaí Report, March 2026; Brazil — Law 15,330 of 7 January 2026
• Škoda UK — Britain's most mispronounced words, 2026