answer
an·swer/ˈæn.sɚ/noun, verb
answer is spelled A-N-S-W-E-R, 2 syllables: an·swer. The wrong spelling people search most is anwser: about 360 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 29 of all searches for the word. Answer is a noun meaning “A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question”. The plural of answer is answers.
How many letters and syllables are in answer?
| Letters | 6: A-N-S-W-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: an·swer |
| In writing | 148 times per million words; the 697th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, anwser, about 360 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 do you spell answer?
Answer is spelled A-N-S-W-E-R. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 13 of the searches for answer in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is answer?
Answer appears 148 times per million words in written English, the 697th 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 answer?
- UK /ˈɑːn.sə/
- UK /ˈa̝n.sə/
- US /ˈæn.sɚ/
Answer has 2 syllables, split an·swer in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-answer.ogg, En-us-answer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with answer?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as answer from its last stressed vowel (/ænsəɹ/):
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 answer
- answers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- answering participle, present
- answered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does answer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question.
Her answer to his proposal was a slap in the face.
- 2
A solution to a problem.
There is no simple answer to corruption.
- 3
Someone or something that fills a similar role or position.
- 4
A document filed in response to a complaint, responding to each point raised in the complaint and raising counterpoints.
verb
- 1
To make a reply or response to.
He answered the question.
- 2
To speak in defence against; to reply to in defence.
to answer a charge or accusation
- 3
To respond to a call by someone at a door or telephone, or other similar piece of equipment.
She answered the door.
- 4
To suit a need or purpose satisfactorily.
It answers the need.
- 5
To be accountable or responsible; to make amends.
The man must answer to his employer for the money entrusted to his care.
- 6
To file a document in response to a complaint.
- 7
To correspond to; to be in harmony with; to be in agreement with.
- 8
To be opposite, or to act in opposition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate answer?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of answer: ans, ans..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Answer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | réponse , solution , répondre |
| German | Antwort, Entgegnung , Lösung , antworten |
| Portuguese | resposta , responder , réplica , atender , replicar, redarguir |
| Spanish | respuesta , responder, contestar , contestación , servir |
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.