hookah
hook·ah/ˈhu.kə/noun
hookah is spelled H-O-O-K-A-H: 6 letters and 2 syllables (hook·ah). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hookah means “A pipe with a long flexible tube that draws the smoke through water, traditionally used for smoking tobacco, which is often flavored” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hookah is hookahs.
How many letters and syllables are in hookah?
| Letters | 6: H-O-O-K-A-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: hook·ah |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hookah?
Hookah appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th 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 hookah?
- UK /ˈhʊ.kə/
- US /ˈhu.kə/
- US /ˈhʊ.kə/
Hookah has 2 syllables, split hook·ah in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-hookah.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with hookah
Sounds like: hooker (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: hooker.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with hookah?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hookah from its last stressed vowel (/ukə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hookah
- hookahs plural
- hooka
- hooker
- houka
- hukka
- hukkah
- huqqa
- huqqah
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hookah mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A pipe with a long flexible tube that draws the smoke through water, traditionally used for smoking tobacco, which is often flavored.
- 2
A tankless surface air compressor pump and umbilical piping system that supplies air to a diving mask.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hookah in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pipe:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | houka, narguilé, chicha |
| German | Wasserpfeife, Schischa, Shisha |
| Portuguese | narguilé, xixa, arguile |
| Spanish | narguile, shisha |
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 hookah come from?
Borrowed from Hindustani حقہ / हुक़्क़ा (huqqā) and, in turn, derived from Arabic حُقَّة (ḥuqqa, “pot, jar”), from حُقّ (ḥuqq, “cavity, hollow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).