brat
/bɹæt/noun, verb, adjective
brat is spelled B-R-A-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brat means “A human child” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brat is brats.
How many letters and syllables are in brat?
| Letters | 4: B-R-A-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,005th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is brat?
Brat appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th 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 brat?
- /bɹæt/
As a noun (“Bratwurst”): /bɹɑt/.
Brat has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-brat.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-brat.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with brat
Sounds like: Bratt (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with brat?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as brat from its last stressed vowel (/ɑt/):
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 brat
- brats plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bratting participle, present
- bratted participle, past
- more brat comparative
- most brat superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brat mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
slangA human child.
- 2
derogatoryslangA child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish.
a spoiled brat
- 3
slangThe qualities possessed by a confident and assertive woman.
- 4
slangA child (at any age) of an active member of the military or the diplomatic service.
an army brat
- 5
slangA submissive partner who is disobedient and unruly.
- 6
derogatoryAn immature, spoiled and/or selfish person.
- 7
A turbot or flatfish.
- 8
A rough cloak or ragged garment.
- 9
informalBratwurst.
- 10
A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.
verb
- 1
To act in a bratty manner as the submissive.
adjective
- 1
Characteristic of a confident and assertive woman.
noun
- 1
Acronym of bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast, the basis of a diet formerly recommended for an upset stomach.
- 2
USAcronym of Bradley reactive armor tile.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brat in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a selfish, spoiled, or unruly child:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | morveux, morveuse, peste, sale gosse, garnement, mal élevé |
| German | Balg, Göre, Gör |
| Portuguese | pirralho, mimado, pirralha |
| Spanish | mimado, malcriado, malportado, mocoso, niñato, jovenete |
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 brat come from?
Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”), in which case it would be a doublet of brachet. Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).