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PlainSpell

cue

/kju/noun, verb

cue is spelled C-U-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “cue vs queue” about 9,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, cue means “The name of the Latin script letter Q/q” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cue is cues or 'cues.

How many letters and syllables are in cue?

Letters3: C-U-E
Syllables1
In writing5.6 times per million words; the 10,358th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cue?

Cue appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th 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 cue?

  • UK /kjuː/
  • British /kjʉw/
  • US /kju/

Cue has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-queue.ogg, En-au-queue.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cue

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

cue vs queue9,900 G
cue vs que60 B

Sounds like: que, queue (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with cue?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cue from its last stressed vowel (/u/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: ecu, uce.

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 cue

  • cues plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • kue
  • kew
  • que
  • cueing participle, present
  • cuing participle, present
  • cued participle, past
  • 'cues plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cue mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The name of the Latin script letter Q/q.

  2. 2

    UKobsoleteA small portion of bread or beer; the quantity bought with a farthing or half farthing and noted with a q (for Latin quadrāns (“farthing”)) in the buttery books.

  3. 3

    An action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something.

  4. 4

    The last words of a play actor's speech, serving as an intimation for the next actor to speak; any word or words which serve to remind an actor to speak or to do something; a catchword.

  5. 5

    A marker or signal that triggers something, such as the start of an audio recording.

  6. 6

    A hint or intimation.

  7. 7

    obsoleteHumour; temper of mind.

  8. 8

    A straight tapering stick used to hit the balls in various games.

  9. 9

    obsoleteThe tail; the end of a thing; especially, a tail-like twist of hair worn at the back of the head; a queue.

verb

  1. 1

    To give someone a cue signal.

    Cue the cameraman, and action!

  2. 2

    To spark or provoke.

    These techniques can cue an open dialogue with your interviewer.

  3. 3

    To take aim on the cue ball with the cue and hit it.

  4. 4

    To form into a cue; to braid; to twist.

noun

as CUE
  1. 1

    Acronym of clear and unmistakable error, a legal standard for appeal of a decision by a Board of Veterans Appeals in the United States.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchku, cu (name of the letter Q, q), signe, signal (action or event that is a signal to do something), réplique (words which serve to remind an actor), queue de billard (straight tapering rod used to impel the balls…)
Portuguesequê (name of the letter Q, q), sinal, deixa (action or event that is a signal to do something), taco (straight tapering rod used to impel the balls…)
Spanishcu (name of the letter Q, q), señal (action or event that is a signal to do something), pie (words which serve to remind an actor), indicio, barrunto (hint or intimation), darle el pie a (to give a cue signal)
GermanWink, Signal, Hinweis (action or event that is a signal to do something), Stichwort (words which serve to remind an actor), Queue, Billardstock (straight tapering rod used to impel the balls…)

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 cue come from?

From Middle English cu (used for half a farthing, from q as an abbreviation for Latin quadrāns (“quarter of an as”)), from Latin cū, kū. Compare French ku.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cue