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hassle

/ˈhæsl̩/noun, verb, adjective

hassle is spelled H-A-S-S-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hassle means “Trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hassle is hassles.

How many letters and syllables are in hassle?

Letters6: H-A-S-S-L-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 hassle?

Hassle appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th 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 hassle?

  • /ˈhæsl̩/

Hassle 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: En-au-hassle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of hassle

  • hassles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hassling participle, present
  • hassled participle, past
  • more hassle comparative
  • most hassle superlative

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

What does hassle mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    Trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems.

    I went through a lot of hassle to be the first to get a ticket.

  2. 2

    A fight or argument.

  3. 3

    An action which is not worth the difficulty involved.

verb

  1. 1

    To trouble, to bother, to annoy.

    The unlucky boy was hassled by a gang of troublemakers on his way home.

  2. 2

    To pick a fight or start an argument with.

  3. 3

    To work through something troublesome; to be bothered by.

    If you don't want to hassle through converting formats, you'll have to stick with one program.

  4. 4

    slangTo engage in a mock dogfight.

adjective

  1. 1

    hassling; hasslesome

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

Hassle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtracas, peine (trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems), dispute, lutte (fight or argument), harceler (To trouble, to bother, to annoy), provoquer (To pick a fight or start an argument)
GermanÄrger, Schererei (trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems), Streit, Zank (fight or argument), ärgern (To trouble, to bother, to annoy), Mühe (action which is not worth the difficulty…)
Spanishlío, apuro, tropiezo, fastidio, joda, vaina (trouble, bother, unwanted annoyances or problems)
Portugueseincomodar, aborrecer (To trouble, to bother, to annoy)

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 hassle come from?

Unknown. Probably from US Southern dialectal hassle (“to pant, breathe noisily”), possibly from haste + -le (frequentative suffix).

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

What to look up after hassle