crying
/ˈkɹaɪ̯.ɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
crying is spelled C-R-Y-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, crying means “That cries” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in crying?
| Letters | 6: C-R-Y-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 36 times per million words; the 2,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 crying?
Crying appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th 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 crying?
- /ˈkɹaɪ̯.ɪŋ/
Crying 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-us-crying.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with crying?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as crying.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: cringy.
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 crying
- cryings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crying mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That cries.
The crying child on the street was evidently lost.
- 2
That demands action or attention; desperate.
There is a crying need for more manual workers in this country.
- 3
That deserves rebuke or censure; deplorable.
It is a crying shame that he managed to get away with that!
noun
- 1
The act of one who cries; a weeping or shouting.
Their constant cryings kept us awake!
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of cry
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crying in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense action of the verb cry:
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 crying come from?
From cry + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).