abrade
/əˈbɹeɪd/verb
abrade is spelled A-B-R-A-D-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, abrade means “To rub or wear off; erode” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in abrade?
| Letters | 6: A-B-R-A-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 136,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is abrade?
Abrade appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce abrade?
- US /əˈbɹeɪd/
Abrade has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-abrade.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with abrade
Sounds like: abraid (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with abrade?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as abrade from its last stressed vowel (/eɪd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of abrade
- abrades present, singular, he/she/it
- abrading participle, present
- abraded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does abrade mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To rub or wear off; erode.
- 2
To wear down or exhaust, as a person; irritate.
- 3
To irritate by rubbing; chafe.
- 4
To cause the surface to become more rough.
- 5
To undergo abrasion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Abrade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense transitive: to rub or wear off; to waste or wear away by friction:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abraser |
| German | abschleifen, abschürfen |
| Portuguese | desgastar |
| Spanish | escoriar, raspar, raer, desgastar, legrar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does abrade come from?
From Latin abrādō (“scrape off”), from ab (“from, away from”) + rādō (“scrape”). First attested in 1677.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).