attempt
/əˈtɛmpt/verb, noun
attempt is spelled A-T-T-E-M-P-T. The wrong spelling people search most is attemt: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 103 of all searches for the word. Attempt is a verb meaning “To try”.
How many letters and syllables are in attempt?
| Letters | 7: A-T-T-E-M-P-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, attemt, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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).
How do you spell attempt?
Attempt is spelled A-T-T-E-M-P-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 104 of the searches for attempt 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 attempt?
Attempt appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th 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 attempt?
- /əˈtɛmpt/
Attempt 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-us-attempt.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-attempt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of attempt
- attempts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- attempting participle, present
- attempted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does attempt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To try.
to attempt an escape from prison
- 2
obsoleteTo try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
- 3
archaicTo try to win, subdue, or overcome.
one who attempts the virtue of a woman
- 4
archaicTo attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
to attempt the enemy’s camp
- 5
To make a substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).
noun
- 1
The action of trying at something.
We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn’t manage.
- 2
An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.
No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm.
- 3
A substantial but unsuccessful effort (to commit a crime).
- 4
An act of trying to commit suicide
Her attempt was not successful, and resulted in her being hospitalized.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Attempt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tenter, essayer , tentative, essai , attentat |
| German | versuchen , Versuch, Bestreben, Bestrebung , Anschlag, Attentat |
| Portuguese | tentar, intentar, provar , tentativa, intento , atentado |
| Spanish | intentar, tratar de, acometer, ver de , tentativa, intento |
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 attempt come from?
Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (“to try, solicit”), from ad- (“to”) + temptō; see tempt. The noun is from the 1530s, the sense "an assault on somebody's life, assassination attempt" (French attentat) is from 1580. By surface analysis, at- + tempt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).