blackmail
black·mail/ˈblækˌmeɪl/noun, verb
blackmail is spelled B-L-A-C-K-M-A-I-L: 9 letters and 2 syllables (black·mail). It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, blackmail means “The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in blackmail?
| Letters | 9: B-L-A-C-K-M-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: black·mail |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,228th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is blackmail?
Blackmail appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th 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 blackmail?
- /ˈblækˌmeɪl/
Blackmail has 2 syllables, split black·mail in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-blackmail.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of blackmail
- blackmails present, singular, he/she/it
- blackmailing participle, present
- blackmailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does blackmail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The extortion of money or favors by threats of public accusation, critique, or exposure.
- 2
Compromising material that can be used to extort someone.
- 3
A type of roleplay where the submissive shares information that may be exploited by the dominant.
- 4
archaicA form of protection money (or corn, cattle, etc.) anciently paid, in the north of England and south of Scotland, to the allies of robbers in order to be spared from pillage.
- 5
Black rent; rent paid in corn, meat, or the lowest coin, as opposed to white rent, which was paid in silver.
verb
- 1
To extort money or favors from (a person) by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, such as injury to reputation, distress of mind, false accusation, etc.
He blackmailed a businesswoman by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
- 2
To speak ill of someone; to defame someone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Blackmail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chantage , faire du chantage, faire chanter |
| German | Erpressung , erpressen |
| Portuguese | extorsão, chantagem , chantagear, extorquir |
| Spanish | chantaje, extorsión , chantajear |
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 blackmail come from?
From black + mail (“a piece of money”). Compare Middle English blak rente (“a type of blackmail levied by Irish chieftains”). The word is variously derived from the tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to border reivers in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. This tribute was paid in goods or labour, in Latin reditus nigri (“black mail”); the opposite is blanche firmes or reditus albi (“white rent”), denoting payment by silver. McKay derives it from two Scottish Gaelic words blàthaich, pronounced (the th silent) bl-aich, "to protect" and màl (“tribute, payment”)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).