bug
/bʌɡ/noun, verb
bug is spelled B-U-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bug means “An insect of the order Hemiptera (the “true bugs”)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bug is bugs.
How many letters and syllables are in bug?
| Letters | 3: B-U-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 16 times per million words; the 5,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 bug?
Bug appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st 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 bug?
- US /bʌɡ/
- Australia /bɐɡ/
- /bʊɡ/
Bug has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bug.ogg, En-au-Bug.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bug
Also written: bog.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bug?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bug from its last stressed vowel (/ʌɡ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gub.
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 bug
- bugs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bugging participle, present
- bugged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bug mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An insect of the order Hemiptera (the “true bugs”).
- 2
informalproscribedAny motile small terrestrial invertebrate, especially one that is seen as a pest.
These flies are a bother. I’ll get some bug spray and kill them.
- 3
informalAny minibeast.
- 4
informalAny insect.
A: Eew, what is that thing?! Is that a bug?! B: No, it's a spider. And don't worry: she's not gonna hurt you.
- 5
informalAny of various species of marine (saltwater or freshwater) crustaceans; e.g. a Moreton Bay bug, mudbug.
- 6
informalslangA trilobite.
- 7
informalA lobster.
- 8
UKinformalobsoleteA bedbug.
verb
- 1
informalTo annoy.
Don’t bug me, I’m busy!
- 2
informalTo act suspiciously or irrationally, especially in a way that annoys others.
I'm worried about Wallace. He's been buggin' all week.
- 3
To install an electronic listening device or devices in.
We need to know what’s going on. We’ll bug his house.
- 4
To bulge or protrude.
- 5
To represent (a value) using a bug on an instrument.
noun
- 1
USslangA Volkswagen Beetle car.
- 2
slangA Bugatti car.
adjective
- 1
Initialism of bisexual until graduation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bug in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | punaise , insecte, petite bête , cigale de mer , bogue, bug |
| German | Wanze, Schnabelkerf , Krabbeltier, Ungeziefer , Fehler , nerven |
| Portuguese | hemíptero , bicho, bichinho , defeito, falha, bug |
| Spanish | chinche , bicho , error, fallo, defecto, bug |
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.