beau
/ˈbəʊ̯/noun, verb
beau is spelled B-E-A-U: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Beau, the name). As a noun, beau means “A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of beau is beaux or beaus.
How many letters and syllables are in beau?
| Letters | 4: B-E-A-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| 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 common is beau?
Beau appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Beau, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce beau?
- UK /ˈbəʊ̯/
- UK [ˈbəʊ̯]
- UK /ˈbɵʊ̯/
Beau has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-beau.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with beau
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: bow (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with beau?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as beau from its last stressed vowel (/əʊ/, British pronunciation):
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 beau
- beaux plural
- beaus plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- beauing participle, present
- beaued participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does beau mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
datedA man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.
- 2
CanadaUSdatedA male lover; a boyfriend.
- 3
A male escort.
- 4
A suitor of a lady.
verb
- 1
To act as a beau (towards); to court or woo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Beau in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dandy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Beau |
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 beau come from?
From Middle English beau, beu, bew, bewe, from Old French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello and boo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).