checkered
adjective, verb
checkered is spelled C-H-E-C-K-E-R-E-D: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, checkered means “Divided into a grid of squares of alternating colours or shades, or into light and dark patches” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in checkered?
| Letters | 9: C-H-E-C-K-E-R-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,236th 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 checkered?
Checkered appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,236th 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 checkered?
Checkered 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-checkered.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of checkered
- more checkered comparative
- most checkered superlative
- chequered UK
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does checkered mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Divided into a grid of squares of alternating colours or shades, or into light and dark patches.
That is a checkered tablecloth.
- 2
Changeable; inconsistent; having variations or uncertainty; marked by many problems or failures.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of checker
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Checkered in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | à carreaux, échiqueté, carreauté, en damier |
| German | kariert, schachbrettartig , wechselvoll |
| Portuguese | quadriculado, axadrezado, xadrez |
| Spanish | a cuadros, ajedrezado, escaqueado |
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 checkered come from?
From checker + -ed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).