demolish
/dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/verb
demolish is spelled D-E-M-O-L-I-S-H: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, demolish means “To destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in demolish?
| Letters | 8: D-E-M-O-L-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is demolish?
Demolish appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th 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 demolish?
- /dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/
Demolish has 3 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-demolish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of demolish
- demolishes present, singular, he/she/it
- demolishing participle, present
- demolished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does demolish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion.
They demolished the old mill and put up four townhouses.
- 2
To defeat, refute, discredit, or consume utterly (as a theory, belief or opponent).
- 3
To devour; to eat up
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Demolish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to destroy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | démolir |
| German | abreißen, niederreißen |
| Portuguese | demolir |
| Spanish | demoler |
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 demolish come from?
Attested since the 16th century; from Middle French demoliss-, the stem of some conjugated forms of the verb demolir (“to destroy”, “to tear down”), from Latin dēmōlior (“to tear down”). Displaced native Old English tōweorpan (literally “to throw apart”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).