diacritic
/ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/adjective, noun
diacritic is spelled D-I-A-C-R-I-T-I-C: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, diacritic means “Distinguishing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in diacritic?
| Letters | 9: D-I-A-C-R-I-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is diacritic?
Diacritic appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th 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 diacritic?
- UK /ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/
- US /ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪtɪk/
- US [ˌdaɪəˈkɹɪɾɪk]
Diacritic has 4 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-diacritic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with diacritic?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as diacritic from its last stressed vowel (/ɪtɪk/):
- critic
- Semitic
- parasitic
- electrolytic
- anxiolytic
- martensitic
- sybaritic
- Glagolitic
- granulocytic
- chondritic
- mephitic
- proclitic
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 diacritic
- more diacritic comparative
- most diacritic superlative
- diacritics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does diacritic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Distinguishing.
- 2
Denoting a distinguishing mark applied to a letter or character.
noun
- 1
A special mark added to a letter to indicate a different pronunciation, stress, tone, or meaning.
- 2
A letter added to another letter serving a similar indicative function.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Diacritic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense diacritical mark:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | diacrítico |
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.