hamstrung
verb, adjective
hamstrung is spelled H-A-M-S-T-R-U-N-G: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,894th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hamstrung means “simple past and past participle of hamstring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hamstrung?
| Letters | 9: H-A-M-S-T-R-U-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 62,894th 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 hamstrung?
Hamstrung appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,894th 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 hamstrung?
- US
Hamstrung 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)-Wodencafe-hamstrung.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hamstrung
- more hamstrung comparative
- most hamstrung superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hamstrung mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of hamstring
adjective
- 1
nonstandardRestricted as if by being crippled with a hamstring; hamstringed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hamstrung in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense restricted as if with a crippling hamstring:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | gelähmt, lahm gelegt |
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.