earworm
ear·worm/ˈɪəwɜːm/noun
earworm is spelled E-A-R-W-O-R-M: 7 letters and 2 syllables (ear·worm). It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 78,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, earworm means “A tune that keeps replaying in one's head or that one keeps thinking about, especially if unwanted” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of earworm is earworms.
How many letters and syllables are in earworm?
| Letters | 7: E-A-R-W-O-R-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ear·worm |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 78,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is earworm?
Earworm appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 78,613th 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 earworm?
- UK /ˈɪəwɜːm/
- British /ˈɪːwəːm/
- British /ˈɪjəwəːm/
Earworm has 2 syllables, split ear·worm in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-earworm.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with earworm
Also written: ear-worm (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of earworm
- earworms plural
- ear worm
- ear-worm
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does earworm mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A tune that keeps replaying in one's head or that one keeps thinking about, especially if unwanted.
- 2
Ellipsis of corn earworm (“larva of the moths Helicoverpa zea (syn. Heliothis zea) and Helicoverpa armigera, which are agricultural pests”).
- 3
archaicAn earwig; an insect of the order Dermaptera.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Earworm in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tune that keeps replaying in one's head:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ver d’oreille |
| German | Ohrwurm |
| Portuguese | música chiclete, chiclete |
| Spanish | gusano auditivo, gusano cerebral |
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 earworm come from?
From ear + worm; senses 1 and 3 (“tune that keeps replaying in one’s head”; “earwig”) are a calque of German Ohrwurm (“tune that pops up in one’s memory all the time; earwig”) (from the idea of a creature burrowing into the ear, an erroneous belief where earwigs are concerned), while sense 2 (“moth larva”) refers to the fact that these pests infest, among other things, ears of maize or sweet corn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).