featherbed
noun, verb
featherbed is spelled F-E-A-T-H-E-R-B-E-D: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 130,282nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, featherbed means “A mattress stuffed with feathers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of featherbed is featherbeds.
How many letters and syllables are in featherbed?
| Letters | 10: F-E-A-T-H-E-R-B-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 130,282nd 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 featherbed?
Featherbed appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 130,282nd 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 featherbed?
Featherbed 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).
Forms of featherbed
- featherbeds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- feather bed
- featherbedding participle, present
- featherbedded participle, past
- feather-bed
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does featherbed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mattress stuffed with feathers.
- 2
UKAn area of bog where a layer of moss covers a pool of water or mud, presenting a hazard to walkers who may fall through it. (Also in UK and Irish placenames.)
- 3
A soft, slow pitch of predictable bounce.
verb
- 1
To treat someone with excessive indulgence; to pamper, cosset or mollycoddle.
- 2
To engage in featherbedding; to employ more workers than necessary to fulfill a labor union requirement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Featherbed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Federbett , verwöhnen |
| Spanish | ser indulgente, consentir, mimar, tener entre algodones |
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 featherbed come from?
From feather + bed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).