cowlick
/ˈkælɪk/noun
cowlick is spelled C-O-W-L-I-C-K: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cowlick means “An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cowlick is cowlicks.
How many letters and syllables are in cowlick?
| Letters | 7: C-O-W-L-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 23 million words; the 145,125th 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 cowlick?
Cowlick appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th 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 cowlick?
- /ˈkaʊˌlɪk/
- US /ˈkælɪk/
Cowlick 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)-Vealhurl-cowlick.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cowlick?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cowlick from its last stressed vowel (/ælɪk/):
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 cowlick
- cowlicks plural
- cow-lick
- cow lick
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cowlick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a whorl or vortex.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cowlick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense unruly lock of hair:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | épi |
| German | Haarwirbel, Wirbel |
| Portuguese | redemoinho |
| Spanish | remolino, mechón |
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 cowlick come from?
From cow + lick; as the hair may appear to have been licked into place by a cow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).