condolences

/kənˈdoʊlənsɪz/noun, interjection

condolences is spelled C-O-N-D-O-L-E-N-C-E-S: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, condolences means “comfort, support, or sympathy offered especially to the family and friends of somebody who has died” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in condolences?

Letters	11: C-O-N-D-O-L-E-N-C-E-S
Syllables	4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st 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 condolences?

Condolences appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list.

condolences0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce condolences?

/kənˈdoʊlənsɪz/
/ˈkɒndələnsɪz/

Condolences has 4 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-condolences.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What does condolences mean?

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

noun

1
comfort, support, or sympathy offered especially to the family and friends of somebody who has died.
I sent her a card expressing my condolences after her mother passed away.
2
plural of condolence (a form of condolence)

interjection

1
Expressing sympathy to someone, especially after learning of a close death.

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

Condolences in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
Spanish	condolencias, péname, pésame (sympathy – see also condolence)
French	mes condoléances, toutes mes condoléances (funeral expression)
German	mein herzliches Beileid (funeral expression)

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.