callback
noun
callback is spelled C-A-L-L-B-A-C-K: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “call back vs callback” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, callback means “The return of a situation to a previous position or state; a reference to such a position or state” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of callback is callbacks.
How many letters and syllables are in callback?
| Letters | 8: C-A-L-L-B-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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).
How common is callback?
Callback appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 callback?
Callback has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-callback.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with callback
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: call back (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of callback
- callbacks plural
- call-back
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does callback mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The return of a situation to a previous position or state; a reference to such a position or state.
- 2
A return telephone or radio call; especially one made automatically to authenticate a logon to a computer network.
- 3
A product recall because of a defect or safety concern.
- 4
A function pointer passed as an argument to another function.
- 5
A follow-up audition in casting.
- 6
A follow-up interview in employment recruiting.
- 7
A joke which references an earlier joke in the same routine.
- 8
A form of audience participation in which the audience shout lines in response to the dialog of a film.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Callback in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Rückruf , Rückrufaktion , Rückruffunktion |
| French | fonction de rappel |
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 callback come from?
Deverbal from call back.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).