charlatan
char·la·tan/ˈʃɑɹlətən/noun
charlatan is spelled C-H-A-R-L-A-T-A-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables (char·la·tan). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, charlatan means “A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of charlatan is charlatans.
How many letters and syllables are in charlatan?
| Letters | 9: C-H-A-R-L-A-T-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: char·la·tan |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is charlatan?
Charlatan appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd 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 charlatan?
- US /ˈʃɑɹlətən/
- UK /ˈʃɑːlətən/
Charlatan has 3 syllables, split char·la·tan in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-ca-charlatan.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of charlatan
- charlatans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does charlatan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
- 2
A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Charlatan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense malicious trickster:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | charlatan |
| German | Scharlatan |
| Portuguese | charlatão |
| Spanish | charlatán |
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 charlatan come from?
From Middle French charlatan, from Old Italian ciarlatano (“quack”), a blend of ciarlatore (“chatterer”) + cerretano (“hawker, quack”, literally “native of Cerreto”) (Cerreto di Spoleto being a village in Umbria, known for its quacks).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).