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PlainSpell

gig

/ɡɪɡ/noun, verb

gig is spelled G-I-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gig means “Originally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gig is gigs.

How many letters and syllables are in gig?

Letters3: G-I-G
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is gig?

Gig appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th 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 gig?

  • US /ɡɪɡ/

As a noun (“Clipping of gigabyte (“one billion (1,000,000,000) bytes”)”): /ɡɪɡ/, /d͡ʒɪɡ/.

Gig has one syllable (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-au-gig.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with gig

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

gig vs jig0 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with gig?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gig from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɡ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: igg.

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 gig

  • gigs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • gigging participle, present
  • gigged participle, past

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

What does gig mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    informalOriginally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer.

    I caught one of the Rolling Stones’ first gigs in Richmond.

  2. 2

    informalAny job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.

    I had this gig as a file clerk but it wasn’t my style so I left.

  3. 3

    USinformalA demerit received for some infraction of a military deportment or dress code.

    I received gigs for having buttons of my uniform undone.

  4. 4

    informalClipping of gigabyte (“one billion (1,000,000,000) bytes”).

    This picture is almost a gig; don’t you want to resize it?

  5. 5

    informalslangAny unit of measurement having the SI prefix giga-.

  6. 6

    informalobsoleteA top which is made to spin by tying a piece of string around it and then throwing it so that the string unwinds rapidly; a whipping-top.

  7. 7

    UKarchaicinformalA person with an odd appearance; also, a foolish person.

  8. 8

    UKarchaicinformalslangFun; frolics.

  9. 9

    informalobsoleteA fanciful impulse; a whim; also, a joke.

  10. 10

    informalA small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger ship, and used for transportation between the ship and the shore, another vessel, etc.

  11. 11

    informalA similar rowing boat or sailboat, especially one used for racing; specifically, a six-oared sea rowing boat commonly found in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

  12. 12

    informalA two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.

  13. 13

    informalSynonym of fishgig or fizgig (“a spear with a barb on the end of it, used for catching fish, frogs, or other small animals”).

  14. 14

    informalobsoleteA frivolous, playful, or wanton young woman; a giglet or giglot.

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo play (a musical instrument) at a gig.

  2. 2

    USinformalTo impose a demerit (on someone) for an infraction of a military deportment or dress code.

    His sergeant gigged him for an unmade bunk.

  3. 3

    informalTo engage in a musical performance, act in a theatre production, etc.

    The Rolling Stones were gigging around Richmond at the time.

  4. 4

    informalTo work at any job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.

  5. 5

    informalTo make a joke, often condescendingly, at the expense of (someone); to make fun of.

    His older cousin was just gigging him about being in love with that girl from school.

  6. 6

    informalSometimes followed by it: to ride in a gig (“a two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse”).

  7. 7

    informalTo spear (fish, etc.) with a gig or fizgig.

  8. 8

    informalTo catch or fish with a gig or fizgig.

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

Gig in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchconcert (performing engagement by a musician or musical…), gig (small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger…)
GermanGig, Auftritt (performing engagement by a musician or musical…), musizieren (to engage in a musical performance, act in a…), veralbern (to make a joke, often condescendingly, at the…), speerfischen (to catch or fish with a gig)
Portugueseapresentação, show (performing engagement by a musician or musical…), giga (clipping of gigabyte), gig (two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse)
Spanishbolo (performing engagement by a musician or musical…), giga (clipping of gigabyte), charrete (two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse)

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 gig come from?

The etymology of the noun is unknown, but compare Old French gigue (“a fiddle”). The verb is derived from the noun.

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

What to look up after gig