Skip to main content
PlainSpell

breakdown

break·down/ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/noun

breakdown is spelled B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N: 9 letters and 2 syllables (break·down). It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “break-down vs breakdown” about 480 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, breakdown means “A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of breakdown is breakdowns.

How many letters and syllables are in breakdown?

Letters9: B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N
Syllables2: break·down
In writing13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
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); 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 breakdown?

Breakdown appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th 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 breakdown?

  • UK /ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/
  • US /ˈbɹeɪkˌdaʊn/
  • /bɹɛk.duːn/

Breakdown has 2 syllables, split break·down in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-breakdown.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with breakdown

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

break-down vs breakdown480 G

Also written: break-down (one word or two).

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

What rhymes with breakdown?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as breakdown from its last stressed vowel (/eɪkdaʊn/):

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 breakdown

  • breakdowns plural
  • break-down

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

What does breakdown mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.

    Whenever he was behind the wheel, he would panic at the first sign of a breakdown.

  2. 2

    The sudden (and usually damaging) transition of an electrical insulator to a conductor when subjected to a sufficiently strong voltage, caused by the partial or complete ionization of the insulator; (countable) an instance of this; also, the minimum voltage at which this occurs.

  3. 3

    Something, such as a vehicle, that has experienced a mechanical failure.

    We saw a breakdown by the side of the road.

  4. 4

    Detailed categorization, or itemization or listing, of the components of a thing; (countable) an instance of this.

    Looking at the breakdown of the budget, I see a few items we could cut.

  5. 5

    Breaking of chemical bonds within a compound to produce simpler compounds or elements; (countable) an instance of this.

  6. 6

    A detailed description of a forthcoming project or screenplay which identifies all the required elements, such as the cast, costumes, equipment, props, and special effects.

  7. 7

    A failure in a relationship; a failure or loss of organization in a system.

  8. 8

    (Sudden) worsening of physical health or (more commonly) mental stability, resulting in an inability to carry on normal activities; (countable) an instance of this.

    After so much stress, he suffered a breakdown and simply gave up.

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

Breakdown in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpanne (failure, particularly one which is mechanical…), détail (detailed categorization, or itemization or…), dégradation (breaking of chemical bonds within a compound…), crise de nerfs, crise nerveuse ((sudden) worsening of mental stability; an…)
GermanBetriebsstörung, Panne (failure, particularly one which is mechanical…), Aufschlüsselung (detailed categorization, or itemization or…), Nervenzusammenbruch ((sudden) worsening of mental stability; an…)
Portugueseavaria (failure, particularly one which is mechanical…), quebra, decomposição (breaking of chemical bonds within a compound…), colapso ((sudden) worsening of mental stability; an…)
Spanishavería, descompostura, pana, panne (failure, particularly one which is mechanical…), desglose, disección (detailed categorization, or itemization or…)

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 breakdown come from?

Deverbal from break down.

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

What to look up after breakdown