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PlainSpell

fine

/ˈfaɪ̯n/adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, verb

fine is spelled F-I-N-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 170 times per million words in written English, the 591st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, fine means “Of superior quality” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in fine?

Letters4: F-I-N-E
Syllables1
In writing170 times per million words; the 591st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 fine?

Fine appears 170 times per million words in written English, the 591st 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 fine?

  • US /ˈfaɪ̯n/
  • /ˈfaːn/
  • Australia /ˈfɑɪ̯n/

As a noun (“A fee levied as punishment for breaking the law”): /faɪn/.

As a noun (“The end of a musical composition”): /ˈfiːneɪ/.

Fine has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fine.ogg, En-au-fine.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fine3.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with fine?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fine from its last stressed vowel (/aɪn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: nife.

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 fine

  • finer comparative
  • finest superlative
  • more fine comparative
  • most fine superlative
  • fines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fining participle, present
  • fined participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fine mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of superior quality.

    The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen.

  2. 2

    Impressively bad, inappropriate, or unsatisfactory.

    You're a fine one to talk about laziness.

  3. 3

    informalBeing acceptable, adequate, passable, or satisfactory; having one's well-being be no cause for concern.

    How are you today? – Fine.

  4. 4

    informalGood-looking, attractive.

    That man is so fine that I'd jump into his pants without a moment's hesitation.

  5. 5

    Subtle, delicately balanced or discriminated.

  6. 6

    obsoleteShowy; overdecorated.

  7. 7

    Delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; dexterous.

  8. 8

    An answer often used to cover an unnecessary explanation, rather to avoid conflict or an argument. Saying "I'm fine" can be used to avoid inquiry when the speaker is not really okay.

    Do you want to talk about what happened? – [sharply, with annoyance or discomfort] I'm fine!

adverb

  1. 1

    Well, nicely, in a positive, agreeable way.

    Everything worked out fine.

  2. 2

    colloquialdatedFinely; elegantly; delicately.

  3. 3

    In a manner so that the driven ball strikes the object ball so far to one side as to be barely deflected, the object ball being driven to one side.

interjection

  1. 1

    Expression of (typically) reluctant or agreement.

  2. 2

    Expression of (typically) reluctant acceptance, without further argument or discussion, of another person's viewpoint.

noun

  1. 1

    Fine champagne; French brandy.

  2. 2

    Something that is fine; fine particles.

    They filtered silt and fines out of the soil.

  3. 3

    A fee levied as punishment for breaking the law.

    The fine for jay-walking has gone from two dollars to thirty in the last fifteen years.

  4. 4

    obsoleteMoney paid by a tenant on the commencement of a tenancy so that their rent may be small or nominal.

  5. 5

    A drink that must be taken during a meal or as part of a drinking game, following an announcement that anyone who has done some (usually outrageous) deed is to be fined; similar to I have never; commonly associated with swaps; very similar to a sconce at Oxford University, though a fine is the penalty itself rather than the act of issuing it.

    Fine if you've…

  6. 6

    The end of a musical composition.

  7. 7

    The location in a musical score that indicates the end of the piece, particularly when the piece ends somewhere in the middle of the score due to a section of the music being repeated.

  8. 8

    obsoleteEnd; conclusion; termination; extinction.

  9. 9

    A final agreement concerning lands or rents between persons, as the lord and his vassal.

  10. 10

    UKA sum of money or price paid for obtaining a benefit, favor, or privilege, as for admission to a copyhold, or for obtaining or renewing a lease.

verb

  1. 1

    To make finer, purer, or cleaner; to purify or clarify.

    to fine gold

  2. 2

    To become finer, purer, or cleaner.

  3. 3

    To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.

  4. 4

    To change by fine gradations.

    to fine down a ship's lines, i.e. to diminish her lines gradually

  5. 5

    To clarify (wine and beer) by filtration.

  6. 6

    datedTo become gradually fine; to diminish; to dwindle (with away, down, or off).

  7. 7

    To issue a fine as punishment to (someone).

    She was fined a thousand dollars for littering, but she appealed.

  8. 8

    To pay a fine.

  9. 9

    obsoleteTo finish; to cease.

  10. 10

    obsoleteTo cause to cease; to stop.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate fine?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of fine: F.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfin (of superior quality), beau, belle (of weather: sunny and not raining), bien (being acceptable, adequate, passable, or…), fine (made up of particularly small pieces), amende (payment for breaking the law)
Germanfein (of superior quality), herrlich (of weather: sunny and not raining), gut, akzeptabel, passabel, genügend (being acceptable, adequate, passable, or…)
Portuguesefino (of superior quality), bom (of weather: sunny and not raining), multa (payment for breaking the law), bonito (good-looking, attractive), multar (to issue a fine as punishment)
Spanishfino (of superior quality), (parecerle / estar) bien / bueno, (ser) bueno, (estar) bien (para) (being acceptable, adequate, passable, or…), multa (payment for breaking the law), multar (to issue a fine as punishment)

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 fine come from?

From Middle English fin, fyn, from Old French fin (“fine, minute, exact”), of obscure origin, but probably derived from Latin fīnīre (“to finish”) or fīnis (“boundary, limit, end”), with an abstract sense of fine or thin also arising in many Romance languages (compare Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish fino). Doublet of fino.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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