des
noun
des is spelled D-E-S: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Des, the name). As a noun, des means “plural of de” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in des?
| Letters | 3: D-E-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 18 times per million words; the 4,667th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 des?
Des appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Des, 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 des?
- General-American
Des 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)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-DES.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with des?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as des.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sed.
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).
What does des mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
plural of de
- 2
colloquialDesflurane.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of diethylstilbestrol.
DES exposure
- 2
Initialism of Dark Energy Survey, (an astronomy project).
- 3
Initialism of Deep Ecliptic Survey, (an astronomy project).
- 4
Initialism of Dry Eye Syndrome.
- 5
Initialism of Diffuse Esophageal Spasm.
- 6
Initialism of Drug-Eluting Stent.
phrase
- 1
Initialism of Delivered Ex Ship.
noun
- 1
plural of dE
noun
- 1
plural of DE
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does des come from?
From Middle English des-, dis-, from Old French des-, from Latin dis-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).