deferred
/dɪˈfɝd/adjective, noun, verb
deferred is spelled D-E-F-E-R-R-E-D. The wrong spelling people search most is deffered: about 800 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Deferred is an adjective meaning “Delayed; put off till later”.
How many letters and syllables are in deferred?
| Letters | 8: D-E-F-E-R-R-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, deffered, about 800 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| 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 do you spell deferred?
Deferred is spelled D-E-F-E-R-R-E-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for deferred in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is deferred?
Deferred appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th 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 deferred?
- UK /dɪˈfɜːd/
- US /dɪˈfɝd/
Deferred 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-deferred.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with deferred?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as deferred from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹd/):
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 deferred
- more deferred comparative
- most deferred superlative
- deferreds plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does deferred mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Delayed; put off till later.
requested a deferred payment
- 2
Yielded to someone else's decision or judgment.
The decision was deferred to the regional manager
- 3
Whose value is not realized until a future date: e.g. annuities, charges, taxes, and income, either as an asset or liability.
noun
- 1
Synonym of promise (“object representing delayed result”).
- 2
A deferred bond.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of defer
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Deferred in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | aufgeschoben , -aufschub |
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.