arsenic
/ˈɑɹsənɪk/noun, adjective
arsenic is spelled A-R-S-E-N-I-C: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, arsenic means “A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of arsenic is arsenics.
How many letters and syllables are in arsenic?
| Letters | 7: A-R-S-E-N-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 arsenic?
Arsenic appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th 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 arsenic?
- UK /ˈɑː(ɹ).sə.nɪk/
- US /ˈɑɹsənɪk/
As an adjective (“Of or containing arsenic with a valence of 5”): /ɑː(ɹ)ˈsɛnɪk/, /ɑɹˈsɛnɪk/.
Arsenic has 3 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)-Tesco250-arsenic.wav, En-us-arsenic.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-arsenic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with arsenic?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as arsenic (/ɑɹsənɪk/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: arcsine.
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 arsenic
- arsenics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does arsenic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A toxic grey brittle nonmetallic chemical element (symbol As) with an atomic number of 33.
- 2
A single atom of this element.
- 3
Arsenic trioxide.
adjective
- 1
Of or containing arsenic with a valence of 5.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Arsenic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | arsenic |
| German | Arsen |
| Portuguese | arsênio, arsénio , arsênico, arsénico |
| Spanish | arsénico , trióxido de arsénico |
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.