2025’s biggest mispronunciations: Are you saying these words right?

A new list from Babbel highlights the most mispronounced words of 2025, revealing how key news events and pop-culture moments challenged American pronunciation this year.

The name Zohran Mamdani topped the list as the most common pronunciation struggle, with many Americans mispronouncing the incoming New York City mayor’s last name. The correct pronunciation of Zohran Mamdani is zoh-RAHN mam-DAH-nee, making his name one of the most corrected entries on the mispronounced words list.

The Louvre also ranked highly after the museum made headlines during a major jewel heist, with many English speakers struggling to say “LOOV-ruh” correctly.

Another unexpected entry was Labubu, the viral collectible toy, frequently mispronounced despite its simple phonetics: luh-BOO-boo.

The list also revisited the surprise Denzel Washington pronunciation moment, after the actor revealed that his name is actually said DEN-zul, not “Den-ZELLE.”