hacking
/ˈhækɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
hacking is spelled H-A-C-K-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, hacking means “Short and interrupted, broken, jerky; hacky” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hacking?
| Letters | 7: H-A-C-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.8 times per million words; the 8,417th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is hacking?
Hacking appears 7.8 times per million words in written English, the 8,417th 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 hacking?
- /ˈhækɪŋ/
Hacking 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-hacking.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hacking
- more hacking comparative
- most hacking superlative
- hackings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hacking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Short and interrupted, broken, jerky; hacky.
A hacking cough. A hacking laugh. A hacking breath. A hacking cry.
noun
- 1
Playful solving of technical work that requires deep understanding, especially of a computer system.
- 2
Unauthorized attempts to bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network.
.
- 3
A dry coughing; the emission of a succession of short coughs.
- 4
A kick in the shins.
- 5
The act of striking the muscles with the side of the hand.
- 6
UKA riding or journey on horseback.
- 7
obsoleteThe operation of working over the faces of rough or worn grindstones with a hack-hammer.
- 8
obsoleteThe separation of a course of stones into two smaller courses, when there are not enough large stones to form a single course.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of hack
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hacking in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 hacking come from?
From Middle English *hackynge, hackande, hakand, equivalent to hack + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).