aspire
as·pire/əˈspaɪɚ/verb
aspire is spelled A-S-P-I-R-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (as·pire). It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “aspire vs inspire” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, aspire means “To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in aspire?
| Letters | 6: A-S-P-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: as·pire |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 common is aspire?
Aspire appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 aspire?
- UK /əˈspaɪə(ɹ)/
- US /əˈspaɪɚ/
Aspire has 2 syllables, split as·pire in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-aspire.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with aspire
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 aspire?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as aspire from its last stressed vowel (/aɪəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: praise, spirea.
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 aspire
- aspires present, singular, he/she/it
- aspiring participle, present
- aspired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does aspire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something.
to aspire to / for / after / to do something; to aspire that something happens
- 2
obsoleteTo go as high as, to reach the top of (something).
- 3
archaicTo move upward; to be very tall.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Aspire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to hope or dream:
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 aspire come from?
From Middle English aspiren, from Old French aspirer, from Latin aspīrō (“breathe on; approach; desire”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).