fewer
/ˈfjuː.ɚ/determiner
fewer is spelled F-E-W-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a determiner, fewer means “Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in fewer?
| Letters | 5: F-E-W-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,224th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fewer?
Fewer appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th 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 fewer?
- US /ˈfjuː.ɚ/
Fewer 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: En-us-fewer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fewer?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fewer from its last stressed vowel (/uəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fewer
- fewest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fewer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
determiner
- 1
comparative degree of few; a smaller number.
Fewer women wear hats these days.
- 2
Less; a smaller amount of something non-integral commonly expressed as an integer
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fewer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense comparative of few; a smaller number:
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 fewer come from?
From Middle English fewere, equivalent to few + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).