Skip to main content
PlainSpell

current

UK /ˈkʌɹənt/noun, adjective

current is spelled C-U-R-R-E-N-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 186 times per million words in written English, the 546th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “currant vs current” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, current means “The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of current is currents.

How many letters and syllables are in current?

Letters7: C-U-R-R-E-N-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing186 times per million words; the 546th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
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); 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 current?

Current appears 186 times per million words in written English, the 546th 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 current?

  • UK /ˈkʌɹənt/
  • /ˈkʊɹənt/
  • Australia /ˈkɐɹənt/

Current 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-currant.ogg, En-us-ne-current.ogg, En-us-current.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with current

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

currant vs current720 G

Sounds like: courant, currant (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 current?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as current from its last stressed vowel (/ʌɹənt/, British pronunciation):

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 current

  • currents plural
  • currenter comparative
  • more current comparative
  • currentest superlative
  • most current superlative

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

What does current mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.

  2. 2

    The part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction, especially (oceanography) ellipsis of ocean current.

  3. 3

    Ellipsis of electric current.

  4. 4

    electricity, power in general.

  5. 5

    A tendency or a course of events.

adjective

  1. 1

    Existing or occurring at the moment.

    current events

  2. 2

    Generally accepted, used, practiced, or prevalent at the moment; having currency.

    current affairs

  3. 3

    Electric; of or relating to electricity.

    current bill

  4. 4

    obsoleteRunning or moving rapidly.

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

How do you abbreviate current?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of current: curt..

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

Current in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcourant (part of a fluid that moves continuously in a…), présent, actuel (existing or occurring at the moment)
GermanStrömung (part of a fluid that moves continuously in a…), gegenwärtig, aktuell (existing or occurring at the moment), Strom (time rate of flow of electric charge), zeitnah (generally accepted, used, practiced, or…)
Portuguesecorrente (part of a fluid that moves continuously in a…), em curso, atual (existing or occurring at the moment), amperagem (time rate of flow of electric charge), actual, atual (br) (generally accepted, used, practiced, or…)
Spanishcorriente (part of a fluid that moves continuously in a…), actual (existing or occurring at the moment)

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 current come from?

From Middle English curraunt, borrowed from Old French curant (French courant), present participle of courre (“to run”), from Latin currere (“to run”) (present participle currens). Doublet of courant.

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

What to look up after current