curt
/kɝt/adjective
curt is spelled C-U-R-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Curt, the name). As an adjective, curt means “Brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in curt?
| Letters | 4: C-U-R-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| 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 curt?
Curt appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Curt, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce curt?
- US /kɝt/
- UK /kɜːt/
Curt has one syllable (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-curt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with curt
Sounds like: Kurt (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with curt?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as curt from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: crut.
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 curt
- curter comparative
- curtest superlative
- curts present, singular, he/she/it
- curting participle, present
- curted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does curt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude.
- 2
Short or concise.
verb
- 1
obsoleterareTo cut, cut short, shorten.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Curt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abrupt, sommaire |
| German | brüsk, knapp, kurzangebunden, barsch, schroff , kurz |
| Portuguese | brusco, seco, áspero , curto, conciso, sucinto |
| Spanish | seco, cortante, brusco, parco, telegráfico, escueto |
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 curt come from?
From the Latin curtus (“shortened”). Cognate with Dutch kort, German kurz, Galician curto, French court, Italian corto, Portuguese curto, and Spanish corto. Doublet of short.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).