distant
/ˈdɪstənt/adjective
distant is spelled D-I-S-T-A-N-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, distant means “Far off (physically, logically or mentally)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in distant?
| Letters | 7: D-I-S-T-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,206th 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 distant?
Distant appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th 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 distant?
- US /ˈdɪstənt/
Distant 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: En-us-distant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with distant?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as distant from its last stressed vowel (/ɪstənt/):
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 distant
- more distant comparative
- most distant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Far off (physically, logically or mentally).
We heard a distant rumbling but didn't pay any more attention to it. She was surprised to find that her fiancé was a distant relative of hers. His distant look showed that he was not listening to me.
- 2
Emotionally unresponsive or unwilling to express genuine feelings.
Ever since our argument, she has been totally distant toward me.
- 3
Imported into a cable television system from a different market (and thus possibly incurring a copyright royalty).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does distant come from?
Inherited from Middle English distaunt, from Old French distant, from Latin distāns.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).