chump
/t͡ʃʌmp/noun, verb
chump is spelled C-H-U-M-P: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a derogatory noun, chump means “An incompetent person, a blockhead; a loser” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chump is chumps.
How many letters and syllables are in chump?
| Letters | 5: C-H-U-M-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd 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 chump?
Chump appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd 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 chump?
- /t͡ʃʌmp/
Chump 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-chump.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of chump
- chumps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- chumping participle, present
- chumped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chump mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
colloquialderogatoryAn incompetent person, a blockhead; a loser.
That chump wouldn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.
- 2
colloquialderogatoryA gullible person; a sucker; someone easily taken advantage of; someone lacking common sense.
It shouldn't be hard to put one over on that chump.
- 3
The thick end, especially of a piece of wood or of a joint of meat.
- 4
UKobsoleteslangA person's head or face.
verb
- 1
slangTo treat (someone) as a chump; to defraud or swindle (someone).
- 2
datedDated form of chomp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chump in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unintelligent person:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abruti, abrutie, idiot, idiote, andouille, âne |
| German | Dummkopf, Trottel |
| Spanish | paquete |
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 chump come from?
Origin uncertain; probably a blend of chunk and lump or stump, or perhaps a nasalised variant of chub (“someone chubby, something thick”). Compare Icelandic kubbur (“block of wood, chip (computing)”), Old Norse kumbr for kubbr (“block of wood”), English chop.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).