cesspool
/ˈsɛsˌpuːl/noun
cesspool is spelled C-E-S-S-P-O-O-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cesspool means “An underground pit where sewage is held” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cesspool is cesspools.
How many letters and syllables are in cesspool?
| Letters | 8: C-E-S-S-P-O-O-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,680th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is cesspool?
Cesspool appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,680th 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 cesspool?
- /ˈsɛsˌpuːl/
Cesspool 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-cesspool.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cesspool
- cesspools plural
- cess pool
- sesspool
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cesspool mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An underground pit where sewage is held.
- 2
derogatoryA filthy place.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cesspool in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fosse d’aisance, fosse , cloaque, porcherie |
| German | Sickergrube, Versitzgrube, Senkgrube , Sumpf |
| Portuguese | fossa , chiqueiro |
| Spanish | pozo negro, pozo ciego, fosa séptica , cloaca, sentina |
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 cesspool come from?
From earlier sesspool. Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Italian cesso (“privy, a toilet”) + English pool. Alternatively, an alteration of English dialectal suspool, from suss, soss (“a puddle; mire”) + pool. Another possible derivation is from a folk etymology (influence from pool) from earlier cesperalle, alteration of Middle English suspiral, from Middle French souspirail (“an air hole”), from soupirer, souspirer (“to sigh, breathe”), from Latin suspirare.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).