Caribbean
/ˌkæɹɪˈbiːən/adjective, noun
Caribbean is spelled C-A-R-I-B-B-E-A-N: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, Caribbean means “Pertaining to the sea and region of the western Atlantic bounded by South America, Central America, and the islands of the West Indies (such as Cuba…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in Caribbean?
| Letters | 9: C-A-R-I-B-B-E-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,878th 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 Caribbean?
Caribbean appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th 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 Caribbean?
- UK /ˌkæɹɪˈbiːən/
- US /ˌkæɹɪˈbiːən/
- US /kəˈɹɪbiən/
Caribbean has 4 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-ne-caribbean.ogg, En-us-Caribbean.ogg, Caribbean2.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with Caribbean?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as Caribbean from its last stressed vowel (/iən/):
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 Caribbean
- Caribbeans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Caribbean mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to the sea and region of the western Atlantic bounded by South America, Central America, and the islands of the West Indies (such as Cuba and Hispaniola).
noun
- 1
A person native to the Caribbean region
- 2
A member of the Amerindian tribes that inhabited the Caribbean region before the arrival of the Europeans
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Caribbean in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | caraïbe, caribéen , Caribéen, Caribéenne |
| German | karibisch |
| Portuguese | caribenho |
| Spanish | caribe, caribeño |
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 Caribbean come from?
From Carib or Caribe, a people who lived in the West Indies, + -an.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).