dirt
/dɝt/noun, verb
dirt is spelled D-I-R-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dirt means “Soil or earth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dirt is dirts.
How many letters and syllables are in dirt?
| Letters | 4: D-I-R-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,752nd 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 dirt?
Dirt appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd 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 dirt?
- UK /dɜːt/
- US /dɝt/
- /dɪɾt/
Dirt 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: En-us-dirt.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dirt?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dirt from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹt/):
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 dirt
- dirts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- durt
- dirting participle, present
- dirted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dirt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USSoil or earth.
- 2
A stain or spot (on clothes etc); any foreign substance that worsens appearance.
- 3
Previously unknown facts or rumors about a person.
The reporter uncovered the dirt on the businessman by going undercover.
- 4
Meanness; sordidness.
- 5
In placer mining, earth, gravel, etc., before washing.
- 6
Freckles.
- 7
archaicExcrement; dung.
noun
- 1
IrelandAcronym of Deposit Interest Retention Tax.
verb
- 1
rareTo make foul or filthy; soil; befoul; dirty
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dirt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | saleté, ordure , terre, boue , salissure, tache |
| German | Schmutz , Erde, Boden, Dreck |
| Portuguese | sujidade , terra , sujeira |
| Spanish | suciedad, mugor, mugre , tierra |
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 dirt come from?
From Middle English drit (“excrement”), from Old Norse drit (“excrement”), from Proto-Germanic *dritą, *dritō (“excrement”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreyd-, *treydʰ- (“to have diarrhea”). Cognate with dialectal Danish and Norn drit (“excrement”), Norwegian dritt (“excrement”), dialectal Swedish dret (“shit”), Faroese and Icelandic drit (“bird excrement”), Dutch drijten (“to defecate”), drits (“dirt, mud, filth”), drijt and dreet (“excrement”), Low German drieten (“to defecate”), Driet (“shit”), regional German Driss (“shit”), Old English ġedrītan (“to defecate”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).