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PlainSpell

bent

/bɛnt/adjective, noun, verb

bent is spelled B-E-N-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bent means “Folded or dented out of its usual shape” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in bent?

Letters4: B-E-N-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bent?

Bent appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th 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 bent?

  • US /bɛnt/

Bent has one syllable (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-bent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with bent?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bent from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnt/):

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 bent

  • benter comparative
  • more bent comparative
  • bentest superlative
  • most bent superlative
  • bents plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bent mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Folded or dented out of its usual shape.

  2. 2

    UKcolloquialCorrupt, dishonest.

  3. 3

    UKcolloquialderogatoryHomosexual.

  4. 4

    Determined or insistent; inclined, set.

    He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.

  5. 5

    Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet.

    Near-synonym: butthurt

  6. 6

    leading a life of crime.

  7. 7

    slangInaccurately aimed.

    That shot was so bent it left the pitch.

  8. 8

    UScolloquialSuffering from the bends.

noun

  1. 1

    An inclination or talent.

    He had a natural bent for painting.

  2. 2

    A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.

    His mind was of a technical bent.

  3. 3

    The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.

    the bent of a bow

  4. 4

    A declivity or slope, as of a hill.

  5. 5

    Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.

  6. 6

    Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.

  7. 7

    Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.

  8. 8

    Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.

  9. 9

    Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.

  10. 10

    Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.).

  11. 11

    A grassy area, grassland.

  12. 12

    Old dried stalks of grasses.

verb

  1. 1

    simple past and past participle of bend (a form of bend)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcourbé (folded)
Germangebeugt, verbogen (folded), gay, homosexuell (Homosexual), entschieden (Determined or insistent)
Portuguesetorto (folded)
Spanishdoblado (folded), inclinación (inclination or talent), predisposición (predisposition)

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 bent come from?

From Middle English bent-, preterite stem (as in bente, benten, etc.), and Middle English bent, ibent, ybent, past participle forms of Middle English benden (“to bend”). Equivalent to bend + -t.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bent