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PlainSpell

besides

/bɪˈsaɪdz/preposition, adverb

besides is spelled B-E-S-I-D-E-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 43 times per million words in written English, the 2,339th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “beside vs besides” about 1,300 times a month (Google, United States). As a preposition, besides means “In addition to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in besides?

Letters7: B-E-S-I-D-E-S
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing43 times per million words; the 2,339th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people 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); 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 common is besides?

Besides appears 43 times per million words in written English, the 2,339th 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 besides?

  • UK /bɪˈsaɪdz/
  • US /bɪˈsaɪdz/
  • US /bəˈsaɪdz/

Besides 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-besides.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with besides

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

beside vs besides1,300 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What does besides mean?

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

preposition

  1. 1

    In addition to.

    Besides José, I'll invite Jay and Renée, the three of them.

  2. 2

    Other than; except for; instead of.

    I don't want to go anywhere besides India.

  3. 3

    informalBeside, next to.

adverb

  1. 1

    Also; in addition.

    We've paid for your whole education and plenty more besides!

  2. 2

    Used to emphasize an additional point, especially an important or stronger reason; moreover; furthermore.

    I don't feel like going out tonight. Besides, I have to work tomorrow morning anyway.

  3. 3

    Otherwise; else.

    I have been to Spain but nowhere besides.

  4. 4

    obsoleteOn one side.

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

Besides in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchde plus, en plus en outre, de surcroît, par surcroît par ailleurs, d'un autre côté, d'autre part (in addition to)
Germanaußer (in addition to), außerdem, weiterhin, darüber hinaus (also; in addition)
Portuguesealém de (in addition to), além disso, fora isso, ademais (also; in addition), a não ser, exceto (other than; except for)
Spanishaparte de, además de, extra de, amén de, fuera de (in addition to), además (also; in addition)

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 besides come from?

From Middle English bisides (also bisiden), extension of biside, equivalent to beside + -s (adverbial suffix).

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

What to look up after besides