feedback
/ˈfiːdˌbæk/noun, verb
feedback is spelled F-E-E-D-B-A-C-K: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, feedback means “Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of feedback is feedbacks.
How many letters and syllables are in feedback?
| Letters | 8: F-E-E-D-B-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is feedback?
Feedback appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd 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 feedback?
- /ˈfiːdˌbæk/
Feedback 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-feedback.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with feedback
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: feed-back (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of feedback
- feedbacks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- feedbacking participle, present
- feedbacked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does feedback mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results.
After you hand in your essays, I will give both grades and feedback.
- 2
The part of an output signal that is looped back into the input to control or modify a system.
- 3
The high-pitched howling noise heard when there is a loop between a microphone and a speaker.
verb
- 1
To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker to cause vibration of the sound generator of a musical instrument connected by an amplifier to the speaker.
The show ended with a riot of feedbacking guitars.
- 2
To provide informational feedback to.
His employees feedbacked him a lot more than he wanted.
- 3
To convey by means of specialized communications channel.
Customers feedbacked their complaints and some praise.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Feedback in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | évaluation, réaction, retour , rétroaction , effet Larsen |
| German | Feedback, Rückmeldung , Rückkopplung , (akustische) Rückkopplung |
| Portuguese | comentário, avaliação, feedback , retroalimentação, realimentação |
| Spanish | valoración, comentario, reacción, impresión, feedback, corrección |
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 feedback come from?
From feed + back.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).