allude
/əˈlud/verb
allude is spelled A-L-L-U-D-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “allude vs elude” about 4,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, allude means “To refer to something indirectly or by suggestion; to invoke it by implication rather than mention” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in allude?
| Letters | 6: A-L-L-U-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,660th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is allude?
Allude appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th 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 allude?
- UK /əˈljuːd/
- UK /əˈluːd/
- US /əˈlud/
Allude 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: En-uk-allude.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with allude
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with allude?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as allude from its last stressed vowel (/ud/):
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 allude
- alludes present, singular, he/she/it
- alluding participle, present
- alluded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does allude mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To refer to something indirectly or by suggestion; to invoke it by implication rather than mention.
First, she alluded to her husband as "the man at home looking after the children". Then she referred to him as "my George".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Allude in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense refer to something indirectly or by suggestion:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | alluder, faire allusion, suggérer |
| German | andeuten, erwähnen, anspielen |
| Portuguese | aludir |
| Spanish | aludir, referirse |
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 allude come from?
From Middle French alluder, from Latin alludere (“to play with or allude”), from ad + ludere (“to play”). See also al-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).