cadet
ca·det/kəˈdɛt/noun
cadet is spelled C-A-D-E-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables (ca·det). It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cadet means “A student at a military school who is training to be an officer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cadet is cadets.
How many letters and syllables are in cadet?
| Letters | 5: C-A-D-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ca·det |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cadet?
Cadet appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th 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 cadet?
- US /kəˈdɛt/
Cadet has 2 syllables, split ca·det in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-cadet.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cadet?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cadet from its last stressed vowel (/ɛt/):
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 cadet
- cadets plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cadet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A student at a military school who is training to be an officer.
- 2
A younger or youngest son, who would not inherit as a firstborn son would.
- 3
Junior. (See also the heraldic term cadency.)
a cadet branch of the family
- 4
USarchaicslangA young man who makes a business of ruining girls to put them in brothels.
- 5
A young gentleman learning sheep farming at a station; also, any young man attached to a sheep station.
- 6
AustraliaA participant in a cadetship.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of Kadet
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cadet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cadet , puîné |
| German | Kadett, Offiziersanwärter , jüngerer Bruder, jüngerer Sohn |
| Portuguese | cadete |
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 cadet come from?
Borrowed from French cadet, from Gascon capdet, from Late Latin capitellum (“small head”). Attested in English from 1634. Doublet of caddie, cadeau, cadel, capital, capitellum, and caudillo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).