courageous
/kəˈɹeɪd͡ʒəs/adjective
courageous is spelled C-O-U-R-A-G-E-O-U-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, courageous means “Of a person, displaying or possessing courage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in courageous?
| Letters | 10: C-O-U-R-A-G-E-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 courageous?
Courageous appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th 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 courageous?
- US /kəˈɹeɪd͡ʒəs/
- Australia /kəˈɹæɪd͡ʒəs/
Courageous has 3 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)-Vealhurl-courageous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with courageous?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as courageous from its last stressed vowel (/eɪdʒəs/):
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 courageous
- more courageous comparative
- most courageous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does courageous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of a person, displaying or possessing courage.
the most courageous person I have ever met
- 2
Of an action, that requires courage.
a courageous deed
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Courageous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of an action, that requires courage:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | mutig, couragiert |
| Portuguese | corajoso |
| Spanish | corajudo, corajoso |
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 courageous come from?
From Middle English corajous, from Old French corageus, from corage + -eus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).