crony
/ˈkɹoʊni/noun
crony is spelled C-R-O-N-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crony means “A close friend” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crony is cronies.
How many letters and syllables are in crony?
| Letters | 5: C-R-O-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,267th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is crony?
Crony appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th 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 crony?
- US /ˈkɹoʊni/
- UK /ˈkɹəʊni/
Crony 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-crony.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with crony?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as crony from its last stressed vowel (/oʊni/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: corny.
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 crony
- cronies plural
- chrony
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crony mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA close friend.
- 2
informalA trusted companion or partner in a criminal organization.
- 3
obsoleteAn old woman; a crone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crony in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense close friend:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | copain, copine |
| German | Freund, Kumpan |
| Portuguese | parceiro |
| Spanish | amigote, amigacho, compinche |
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 crony come from?
Coined between 1655 and 1665 from Ancient Greek χρόνιος (khrónios, “perennial, long-lasting”); see also chrono- (“time”). Initially Cambridge University slang, in sense of “chum”, as “friend of long standing”, with illegal connotation later. Early spellings included chrony, as in 1665 diary by Samuel Pepys, supporting the Greek origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).