cancer
/ˈkænsɚ/noun, adjective
cancer is spelled C-A-N-C-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cancer means “A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (often rapid) proliferation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cancer is cancers.
How many letters and syllables are in cancer?
| Letters | 6: C-A-N-C-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 85 times per million words; the 1,251st 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 cancer?
Cancer appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st 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 cancer?
- UK /ˈkænsə/
- Australia /ˈkæːnsə/
- US /ˈkænsɚ/
Cancer 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: En-us-cancer.ogg, En-uk-cancer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cancer?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cancer from its last stressed vowel (/ænsəɹ/):
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 cancer
- cancers plural
- more cancer comparative
- most cancer superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cancer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (often rapid) proliferation.
Sure, almost everything 'causes cancer' now. That said, I don't go hugging nuclear waste or acting like cancer itself is some conspiracy.
- 2
Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.
adjective
- 1
offensiveslangvulgarExtremely unpleasant and annoying.
I used to love this game, but the new meta is straight up cancer.
noun
- 1
Someone with a Cancer star sign.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate cancer?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of cancer: c..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cancer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cancer , Cancer |
| German | Krebs |
| Portuguese | câncer, cancro , canceriano |
| Spanish | cáncer, cangro, cancro |
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 cancer come from?
Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”), possibly cognate, applied to cancerous tumors because of a supposed resemblence between their enlarged veins and the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).