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concrete

UK /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/adjective, noun, verb

concrete is spelled C-O-N-C-R-E-T-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, concrete means “Real, actual, tangible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in concrete?

Letters8: C-O-N-C-R-E-T-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing28 times per million words; the 3,364th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 concrete?

Concrete appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th 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 concrete?

  • UK /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/
  • UK [ˈkɒŋkɹiːt]
  • UK [kəŋˈkɹiːt]

As a verb (“To cover with or encase in concrete (building material)”): /ˈkɒnkɹiːt/, [ˈkɒŋkɹiːt], /kənˈkɹiːt/.

Concrete 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: En-us-concrete.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of concrete

  • concreter comparative
  • concretest superlative
  • concretes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • concreting participle, present
  • concreted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does concrete mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Real, actual, tangible.

    Fuzzy videotapes and distorted sound recordings are not concrete evidence that Bigfoot exists.

  2. 2

    Analogous to the categories of algebraic objects which category theory was created to generalize, in the sense of having objects which can be thought of as sets equipped with some additional structure. Formally, equipped with a faithful functor to the category of sets.

  3. 3

    Equipped with a faithful functor to X (called a base category), in which case C is called a concrete category over X.

  4. 4

    Being or applying to actual things, rather than abstract qualities or categories.

  5. 5

    Particular, specific, rather than general.

    While everyone else offered thoughts and prayers, she made a concrete proposal to help.

  6. 6

    Made of concrete (building material).

    The office building had concrete flower boxes out front.

  7. 7

    obsoleteMade up of separate parts; composite.

  8. 8

    obsoleteNot liquid or fluid; solid.

noun

  1. 1

    A building material created by mixing cement, water, and aggregate such as gravel and sand.

    Various types of concrete have been used in the construction of this highway.

  2. 2

    Such a material whose cement is Portland cement or a similar limestone derivative.

    The sidewalk was made of concrete that had been poured in large slabs.

  3. 3

    A term designating both a quality and the subject in which it exists; a concrete term.

  4. 4

    USA dessert of frozen custard with various toppings.

  5. 5

    An extract of herbal materials that has a semi-solid consistency, especially when such materials are partly aromatic.

  6. 6

    obsoleteSugar boiled down from cane juice to a solid mass.

  7. 7

    obsoleteAny solid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles; a compound substance, a concretion.

verb

  1. 1

    To cover with or encase in concrete (building material).

    I hate grass, so I concreted over my lawn.

  2. 2

    To solidify: to change from being abstract to being concrete (actual, real).

  3. 3

    archaicTo unite or coalesce into a solid mass.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate concrete?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of concrete: concr..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Concrete in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconcret (particular, perceivable, real), de béton (made of concrete), béton (building material), bétonner (cover with concrete), concréter, concrétiser (solidify, become concrete (actual, real))
Germankonkret, bestimmt, genau (particular, perceivable, real), aus Beton, beton- (made of concrete), Beton (building material)
Portugueseconcreto (particular, perceivable, real), betão (building material), concretar (cover with concrete), concretizar (solidify, become concrete (actual, real))
Spanishconcreto (particular, perceivable, real), de concreto, de hormigón (made of concrete), hormigón, garujo, nuégado (building material)

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 concrete come from?

Borrowed from Latin concrētus, past participle of concrescō (to curdle) from con- (with, together) + crescō (to grow, rise).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after concrete