extricate
/ˈɛk.stɹɪˌkeɪt/verb
extricate is spelled E-X-T-R-I-C-A-T-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, extricate means “To free, disengage, loosen, or untangle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in extricate?
| Letters | 9: E-X-T-R-I-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd 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 extricate?
Extricate appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd 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 extricate?
- UK /ˈɛk.stɹɪ.keɪt/
- US /ˈɛk.stɹɪˌkeɪt/
- US /ˈɛk.stɹəˌkeɪt/
Extricate has 3 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-extricate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of extricate
- extricates present, singular, he/she/it
- extricating participle, present
- extricated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does extricate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To free, disengage, loosen, or untangle.
I finally managed to extricate myself from the tight jacket.
- 2
rareTo free from intricacies or perplexity.
Your argumentation ... is invelloped with certain intricacies, that are not easie to be extricated.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Extricate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to free, disengage, loosen or untangle:
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 extricate come from?
Borrowed from Latin extrīcātus, past participle of extrīcō. Compare intricate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).