cheek
/t͡ʃiːk/noun, verb
cheek is spelled C-H-E-E-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cheek means “The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cheek is cheeks.
How many letters and syllables are in cheek?
| Letters | 5: C-H-E-E-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd 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 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 cheek?
Cheek appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd 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 cheek?
- /t͡ʃiːk/
Cheek has one syllable (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-cheek.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cheek?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cheek.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: keech.
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 cheek
- cheeks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cheeking participle, present
- cheeked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cheek mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
- 2
informalThe lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.
- 3
informalImpudence.
You’ve got some cheek, asking me for money!
- 4
informalOne of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
- 5
One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
the cheeks of a vice
- 6
pump-cheek, pump-cheeks, a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened by means of a bolt and can thus move around and move the upper box of the pump up and down
- 7
The branches of a bridle bit.
- 8
Either side of an axehead.
verb
- 1
To be impudent towards.
Don't cheek me, you little rascal!
- 2
To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.
- 3
To put or keep something in one’s cheek.
The squirrel cheeked some nuts before heading back to its nest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cheek in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | joue , fesse , culot, toupet , potence de bringuebale |
| German | Backe, Wange , Stirn , Mick, Pumpenmick |
| Portuguese | bochecha , nádega, bunda , picota |
| Spanish | mejilla, cacha, cachete, carrillo , nalga, glúteo |
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 cheek come from?
From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).