bilious
/ˈbɪl.jəs/adjective
bilious is spelled B-I-L-I-O-U-S: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 91,522nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bilious means “Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bilious?
| Letters | 7: B-I-L-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 91,522nd 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 bilious?
Bilious appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 91,522nd 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 bilious?
- UK /ˈbɪl.i.əs/
- US /ˈbɪl.jəs/
- US /ˈbɪl.i.əs/
Bilious 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-bilious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bilious
- more bilious comparative
- most bilious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bilious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.
- 2
Resembling bile, especially in color.
- 3
Suffering from real or supposed liver disorder, especially excessive secretions of bile.
- 4
Peevishly ill-humored, irritable or bad tempered; irascible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bilious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bilieux, insuffisant hépatique , biliaire , atrabilaire, bileux |
| German | gallig , giftig, widerlich , reizbar |
| Spanish | bilioso , biliar, biliario , atrabiliario, atrabilioso, intranquillo |
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 bilious come from?
From French bilieux, from Latin bīliōsus (“full of bile”), from bīlis (“bile”) + -ōsus (“full of”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).