barghest
bar·ghest/ˈbɑːˌɡɛst/noun
barghest is spelled B-A-R-G-H-E-S-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables (bar·ghest). It appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, barghest means “A legendary monstrous black dog, said to possess large teeth and claws, and (sometimes) to be capable of changing form” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of barghest is barghests.
How many letters and syllables are in barghest?
| Letters | 8: B-A-R-G-H-E-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bar·ghest |
| In writing | about once in every 76 million words; the 275,970th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is barghest?
Barghest appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th 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 barghest?
- UK /ˈbɑːˌɡɛst/
Barghest has 2 syllables, split bar·ghest in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-barghest.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of barghest
- barghests plural
- bahgeeast
- bargas
- bargast
- bargeist
- bargest
- barghaist
- barghast
- bargheist
- barghist
- bargiss
- barguest
- bargus
- bargust
- bohghost
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does barghest mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKA legendary monstrous black dog, said to possess large teeth and claws, and (sometimes) to be capable of changing form.
- 2
UKAny ghost, wraith, hobgoblin, elf, or spirit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does barghest come from?
Probably inherited from Northern Middle English *berghgast, *barghgast, from bergh, bargh (“barrow”) + gast (“ghost”). Alternative hypotheses that first element is burgh (“town”) or bere (“bear”) lack semantic motivation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).