heroin
/hɛəɹoʊ.ɪn/noun
heroin is spelled H-E-R-O-I-N: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “heroin vs heroine” about 20 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, heroin means “A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as an illegal narcotic in most of the world” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of heroin is heroins.
How many letters and syllables are in heroin?
| Letters | 6: H-E-R-O-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); 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).
How common is heroin?
Heroin appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th 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 heroin?
- /ˈhɛɹoʊ.ɪn/
- US /hɛəɹoʊ.ɪn/
Heroin has 3 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-us-heroin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with heroin
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: heroine.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of heroin
- heroins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heroin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A powerful and addictive drug derived from opium producing intense euphoria, classed as an illegal narcotic in most of the world.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate heroin?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of heroin: H, h.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Heroin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense powerful and addictive drug:
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 heroin come from?
Since the 1890s, by genericization from German Heroin, originally a trademark, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”) and the suffix -in (“-ine”). Said to have been called thus to evoke quick and sweeping effect as a painkiller and cough suppressant (its original uses). Alternatively explained as a reference to the heroic school of medicine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).