carious
ca·ri·ous/ˈkɛəi.əs/adjective
carious is spelled C-A-R-I-O-U-S: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ca·ri·ous). It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 167,786th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, carious means “Having caries (bone or tooth decay); decayed, rotten” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in carious?
| Letters | 7: C-A-R-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ca·ri·ous |
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 167,786th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 carious?
Carious appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 167,786th 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 carious?
- UK /ˈkɛəɹi.əs/
- US /ˈkɛəi.əs/
- US /ˈkæɹi.əs/
Carious has 3 syllables, split ca·ri·ous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-carious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with carious?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as carious (/ɛəiəs/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: curiosa.
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 carious
- more carious comparative
- most carious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does carious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having caries (bone or tooth decay); decayed, rotten.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Carious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having caries (bone or tooth decay):
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carieux |
| Portuguese | cariado |
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 carious come from?
From French carieux (“carious”), from carie (“decay (of bone or teeth)”) (from Latin cariēs (“rot, rottenness, corruption”), from careō (“to lack, be deprived of”), from Proto-Italic *kazēō (“to lack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).) + French -eux (“-ous”) (from Latin -ōsus (“full of, prone to”), from Old Latin -ōsos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-went-, *-wont- + *-to-)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).