headphones
/ˈhɛdfoʊnz/noun
headphones is spelled H-E-A-D-P-H-O-N-E-S: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, headphones means “A pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in headphones?
| Letters | 10: H-E-A-D-P-H-O-N-E-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.6 times per million words; the 8,542nd 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 headphones?
Headphones appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd 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 headphones?
- UK /ˈhɛdfəʊnz/
- US /ˈhɛdfoʊnz/
- Australia /ˈhedfəʉnz/
Headphones 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)-Vealhurl-headphones.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Aadenboy-headphones.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of headphones
- headphone singular
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does headphones mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A pair of cushioned speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound.
Circumaural headphones enclose the ear, supra-aural headphones rest on the ear's surface, and earbuds are placed inside the ear.
- 2
A pair of cushioned speakers worn over or on the ears.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate headphones?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of headphones: heads.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Headphones in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pair of speakers worn over or in the ears so only the wearer can hear the sound:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | casque, écouteurs |
| German | Kopfhörer |
| Portuguese | fones, fones de cabeça, auscultadores |
| Spanish | cascos, auriculares, audífonos |
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 headphones come from?
From head + phones.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).