droll
/dɹoʊl/adjective, noun
droll is spelled D-R-O-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, droll means “Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in droll?
| Letters | 5: D-R-O-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th 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 droll?
Droll appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th 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 droll?
- UK /dɹəʊl/
- /dɹɒl/
- US /dɹoʊl/
Droll 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)-Vealhurl-droll.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with droll?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as droll from its last stressed vowel (/oʊl/):
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 droll
- droller comparative
- drollest superlative
- drolls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- drolling participle, present
- drolled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does droll mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.
Very droll, minister.
noun
- 1
The ghost of a child, especially one who died a painful death.
- 2
archaicA funny person; a buffoon, a wag.
verb
- 1
archaicTo jest, to joke.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Droll in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense oddly humorous; whimsical:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fantaisiste |
| German | drollig |
| Portuguese | engraçado |
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 droll come from?
From French drôle (“comical, odd, funny”), from drôle (“buffoon”) from Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”), itself from Old Norse troll, from Proto-Germanic *truzlą. Doublet of drôle and troll.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).