bet
/bɛt/noun, verb, interjection, preposition
bet is spelled B-E-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 62 times per million words in written English, the 1,696th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bet means “A wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bet is bets.
How many letters and syllables are in bet?
| Letters | 3: B-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 62 times per million words; the 1,696th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 bet?
Bet appears 62 times per million words in written English, the 1,696th 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 bet?
- /bɛt/
Bet 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-bet.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bet
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: beth.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of bet
- bets plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- betting participle, present
- betted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who correctly forecast the outcome of an event).
Dylan owes Fletcher $30 from an unsuccessful bet.
- 2
informalA candidate (for elections and pageants) or competitor (in multinational sports).
- 3
Indicating a degree of certainty, or that something can be relied upon.
It’s a safe bet that it will rain tomorrow.
- 4
Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”).
verb
- 1
To stake or pledge upon the outcome of an event; to wager.
I('ll) bet I can run faster than you.
- 2
To be sure of something; to be able to count on something.
Fancy going for a drink after work? / You bet I do!
- 3
To place money into the pot in order to require others do the same, usually only used for the first person to place money in the pot on each round.
interjection
- 1
Expression of general agreement or acceptance.
- 2
Exclamation indicating acceptance of a challenge or an absurd proposal.
- 3
Exclamation of joy at good fortune.
preposition
- 1
between
noun
- 1
An adsorption technique used to measure the specific surface area of a solid, typically using nitrogen gas at a temperature of 77 K.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pari , parier |
| German | Wette , wetten , Wahrscheinlichkeit |
| Portuguese | aposta , apostar |
| Spanish | apuesta , apostar , (apostar) a que |
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 bet come from?
From 16th-century criminal slang, perhaps from Middle English bet (“something better, advantage, luck”), from Old English bet, bett (“better”, adverb); or, alternatively from abet, from Middle English abet, abette, from Old French abet (“incitement to evil”), from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”); ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baitijan (“to bait, entice”), related to Old English bǣtan (“to bait”). More at abet.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).