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PlainSpell

bingo

/ˈbɪŋ.ɡoʊ/noun, interjection, adjective, verb

bingo is spelled B-I-N-G-O: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bingo means “A game of chance for two or more players, who mark off numbers on a grid as they are announced by the caller; the game is won by the first person to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bingo is bingos.

How many letters and syllables are in bingo?

Letters5: B-I-N-G-O
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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

How common is bingo?

Bingo appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th 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 bingo?

  • UK /ˈbɪŋ.ɡəʊ/
  • US /ˈbɪŋ.ɡoʊ/

Bingo 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-bingo.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bingo.wav, En-au-bingo.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with bingo

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

beano vs bingo0 B

Also written: beano.

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

What rhymes with bingo?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bingo from its last stressed vowel (/ɪŋɡoʊ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: boing.

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 bingo

  • bingos plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • bingoing participle, present
  • bingoed participle, past

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

What does bingo mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A game of chance for two or more players, who mark off numbers on a grid as they are announced by the caller; the game is won by the first person to call out "bingo!" or "house!" after crossing off all numbers on the grid or in one line of the grid.

    He plays bingo with his family on Saturdays.

  2. 2

    A similar game or amusement in which participants tick off themed words, phrases or pictures as these are called out, or as they are mentioned, for example during a speech or performance

    animal bingo (animal pictures), ABBA bingo (titles or lyrics of ABBA songs), buzzword bingo

  3. 3

    A win in such a game.

    There were two bingos in the last game, so the players split the prize money.

  4. 4

    USA play where all seven of a player's letter tiles are played, awarding a score bonus.

  5. 5

    Great, sudden, typically hard-to-predict success; the jackpot.

  6. 6

    obsoleteslangBrandy.

interjection

  1. 1

    Used by players of bingo to claim a win.

  2. 2

    informalUsed when finding what one has been looking for or trying to recall, or on successful completion of a task.

  3. 3

    informalUsed to enthusiastically confirm or validate another speaker's point.

adjective

  1. 1

    USslangJust sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)

verb

  1. 1

    To play the game of bingo.

  2. 2

    To give the winning cry of "bingo!" in a game.

  3. 3

    To play all of one's seven tiles in one move in the game of Scrabble, earning a score bonus.

  4. 4

    USslangTo return to base.

interjection

as Bingo
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of bingo.

interjection

as BINGO
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of bingo.

adjective

as BINGO
  1. 1

    USslangAlternative letter-case form of bingo (“just sufficient to return to base”).

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

Bingo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbingo (game of chance), scrabble (scrabble play), ça y est (when finding something)
GermanBingo (game of chance), Volltreffer (when finding something)
Portuguesebingo (game of chance)
Spanishbingo (game of chance)

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 bingo come from?

Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.

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

What to look up after bingo