beleaguered
/bɪˈliːɡəd/adjective, verb
beleaguered is spelled B-E-L-E-A-G-U-E-R-E-D: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, beleaguered means “Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in beleaguered?
| Letters | 11: B-E-L-E-A-G-U-E-R-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,267th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is beleaguered?
Beleaguered appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th 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 beleaguered?
- UK /bɪˈliːɡəd/
Beleaguered 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)-Vealhurl-beleaguered.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of beleaguered
- more beleaguered comparative
- most beleaguered superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does beleaguered mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.
a beleaguered stronghold
- 2
Beset by trouble or difficulty.
a beleaguered ego
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of beleaguer
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Beleaguered in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | belagert, umzingelt , angeschlagen, überlastet, unter massivem Druck stehend |
| Spanish | asediado, sitiado , hostigado, acuciado |
| French | en difficulté, mal en point, éprouvé, assiégé, à bout de souffle |
| Portuguese | fustigado |
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 beleaguered come from?
From beleaguer + -ed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).