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PlainSpell

converse

/kənˈvɝs/verb, noun, adjective

converse is spelled C-O-N-V-E-R-S-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “conversate vs converse” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, converse means “To talk; to engage in conversation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in converse?

Letters8: C-O-N-V-E-R-S-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is converse?

Converse appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th 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 converse?

  • UK /kənˈvɜːs/
  • US /kənˈvɝs/

As an adjective (“Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal”): /ˈkɒnvɜːs/, /ˈkɑnvɝs/.

Converse 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)-Mélange_a_trois-converse.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-converse_(noun).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with converse

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

conversate vs converse2,900 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with converse?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as converse from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹs/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: conserve.

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 converse

  • converses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • conversing participle, present
  • conversed participle, past

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

What does converse mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To talk; to engage in conversation.

  2. 2

    To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo have knowledge of something, from long talk or study.

noun

  1. 1

    Free verbal interchange of thoughts or views; conversation; chat.

  2. 2

    The opposite or reverse.

  3. 3

    Of a proposition or theorem consisting of a statement of the form "If A is true, then B is true", the statement "If B is true, then A is true" which need not be equivalent to the first one.

    All trout are fish, but the converse, that all fish are trout, is not true.

  4. 4

    One of a pair of terms that name or describe a relationship from opposite perspectives; converse antonym; relational antonym.

  5. 5

    Synonym of transpose.

adjective

  1. 1

    Opposite; reversed in order or relation; reciprocal.

    a converse proposition

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

Converse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconverser, parler (to engage in conversation), opposé, inverse (opposite), réciproque (proposition of the specific form)
Germansich unterhalten, konversieren, sprechen, reden (to engage in conversation), Gegenteil, Umkehrung (opposite)
Portugueseconversar, falar (to engage in conversation), recíproca (proposition of the specific form)
Spanishconversar, tertuliar, prosear, hablar (to engage in conversation), revés, contrario (opposite)

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 converse come from?

From Old French converser, from Latin conversor (“live, have dealings with”).

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

What to look up after converse