extort
/ɪkˈstɔː(ɹ)t/verb
extort is spelled E-X-T-O-R-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, extort means “To take or seize from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in extort?
| Letters | 6: E-X-T-O-R-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is extort?
Extort appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th 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 extort?
- /ɪkˈstɔː(ɹ)t/
Extort 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-extort.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of extort
- extorts present, singular, he/she/it
- extorting participle, present
- extorted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does extort mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To take or seize from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity.
to extort contributions from the vanquished
- 2
To obtain by means of the offense of extortion.
- 3
To twist outwards.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteExtorted; obtained by extortion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Extort in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to wrest from an unwilling person by undue or illegal exercise of power or ingen:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | extorquer |
| German | erpressen |
| Portuguese | extorquir |
| Spanish | extorsionar |
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 extort come from?
Borrowed from Latin extortus, past participle of extorquere (“to twist or wrench out, to extort”); from ex (“out”) + -tort, from torqueō (“twist, turn”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).