crooked
/kɹʊkɪd/adjective, verb
crooked is spelled C-R-O-O-K-E-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, crooked means “Not straight; having one or more bends or angles” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in crooked?
| Letters | 7: C-R-O-O-K-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th 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 crooked?
Crooked appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th 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 crooked?
- US /kɹʊkɪd/
- British /kɹɵkɪd/
- Australia /kɹʊkəd/
As a verb: /kɹʊkt/, /kɹɵkt/, /kɾʊkt/.
Crooked 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: En-uk-crooked.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-crooked_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crooked
- more crooked comparative
- most crooked superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crooked mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.
We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.
- 2
Set at an angle; not vertical or square.
That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?
- 3
Dishonest or illegal; corrupt.
He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.
- 4
Ill-tempered; grumpy; cranky.
I wouldn't try to talk to him just now, b'y! He's some crooked today!
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of crook
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crooked in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | courbé, tortueux , tordu , improbe, malhonnête |
| German | krumm, schief, bogenförmig, de |
| Portuguese | torto , desonesto |
| Spanish | torcido, chueco, lunanco, maltrecho, malparado , ímprobo |
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 crooked come from?
From Middle English croked, crokid, past participle of croken (“to crook, bend”). Cognate with Danish kroget (“crooked”). More at crook.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).