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PlainSpell

frank

/fɹæŋk/adjective, noun, verb

frank is spelled F-R-A-N-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 56 times per million words in written English, the 1,822nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, frank means “Honest, especially in a manner that seems slightly blunt; candid; not reserved or disguised” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in frank?

Letters5: F-R-A-N-K
Syllables1
In writing56 times per million words; the 1,822nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

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 frank?

Frank appears 56 times per million words in written English, the 1,822nd 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 frank?

  • US /fɹæŋk/
  • US [ˈfɹʷæŋk]
  • British /fɹaŋk/

Frank has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-frank.ogg, En-us-Frank.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with frank

Sounds like: franc (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: franc.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with frank?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as frank from its last stressed vowel (/æŋk/):

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 frank

  • franker comparative
  • frankest superlative
  • franks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • franking participle, present
  • franked participle, past

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

What does frank mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Honest, especially in a manner that seems slightly blunt; candid; not reserved or disguised.

    May I be frank with you?

  2. 2

    Unmistakable, clinically obvious, self-evident.

    The research probes whether treating pre-diabetes with metformin can prevent progression to frank diabetes.

  3. 3

    obsoleteUnbounded by restrictions, limitations, etc.; free.

  4. 4

    obsoleteLiberal; generous; profuse.

  5. 5

    derogatoryobsoleteUnrestrained; loose; licentious.

noun

  1. 1

    Free postage, a right exercised by governments (usually with definite article).

    October 5, 1780, William Cowper, letter to Rev. William Unwin I have said so much, that, if I had not a frank, I must burn my letter and begin again.

  2. 2

    The notice on an envelope where a stamp would normally be found.

  3. 3

    A hot dog or sausage.

    Buy a package of franks for the barbecue.

  4. 4

    UKThe grey heron.

  5. 5

    A pigsty.

verb

  1. 1

    To place a frank on an envelope.

  2. 2

    To exempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc.

  3. 3

    To send by public conveyance free of expense.

  4. 4

    To shut up in a frank or sty; to pen up; hence, to cram; to fatten.

noun

as Frank
  1. 1

    One of the Franks, a Germanic federation that inhabited parts of what are now France, the Low Countries and Germany.

  2. 2

    Frenchman.

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

Frank in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfranc (bluntly honest), Franc, Franque (one of the Franks)
Germanehrlich, offen, aufrichtig (bluntly honest), Franke (one of the Franks), freimachen, frankieren (to place a frank on an envelope)
Portuguesefranco (bluntly honest)
Spanishfranco (bluntly honest)

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 frank come from?

From Middle English frank, from Old French franc (“free”), in turn from the name of an early Germanic confederation, the Franks, from Proto-West Germanic *frankō (“javelin, spear”). Doublet of Frank, franc, and farang.

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

What to look up after frank