generic
ge·ner·ic/dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/adjective, noun
generic is spelled G-E-N-E-R-I-C: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ge·ner·ic). It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, generic means “Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in generic?
| Letters | 7: G-E-N-E-R-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ge·ner·ic |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 generic?
Generic appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th 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 generic?
- /dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/
Generic has 3 syllables, split ge·ner·ic in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-generic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with generic?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as generic.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: energic.
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 generic
- more generic comparative
- most generic superlative
- generics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does generic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Very broad; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific instances.
Capri pants can be a generic term for any cropped slim pants.
- 2
Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.
- 3
Of a product or drug, not having a brand name; nonproprietary in design or contents; fungible with the rest of its class.
- 4
Pertaining to genera of life instead of particular species thereof.
Holonym: familial
- 5
nonstandardSpecifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.
Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.
- 6
Of a procedure, written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
- 7
Of a point, having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
- 8
Relating to genre.
noun
- 1
A product sold under a generic name.
- 2
A wine that is a combination of several wines, or made from a combination of several grape varieties.
- 3
A term that specifies neither male nor female.
- 4
The part of a toponym that identifies the feature's type.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Generic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | générique , médicament générique, produit générique |
| German | allgemein, generisch, typisch , artmäßig, gattungsmäßig, arttypisch |
| Portuguese | genérico |
| Spanish | genérico |
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 generic come from?
From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”) + -ic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).