houri
/ˈhʊɹ.i/noun
houri is spelled H-O-U-R-I: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 62 million words in written English, the 246,401st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, houri means “A beautiful virgin girl supposed to dwell in Paradise for the enjoyment of the faithful” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of houri is houris.
How many letters and syllables are in houri?
| Letters | 5: H-O-U-R-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 62 million words; the 246,401st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 houri?
Houri appears about once in every 62 million words in written English, the 246,401st 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 houri?
- UK /ˈhʊəɹi/
- UK /ˈhaʊəri/
- US /ˈhʊɹ.i/
Houri has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-houri.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with houri?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as houri from its last stressed vowel (/ʊɹi/):
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 houri
- houris plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does houri mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A beautiful virgin girl supposed to dwell in Paradise for the enjoyment of the faithful.
- 2
Any voluptuous, beautiful woman.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Houri in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (Islam) a nymph in the form of a beautiful virgin:
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 houri come from?
From French houri, from Persian حوری (hurî), from Arabic حُورِيّ (ḥūriyy) and Arabic حُورِيَّة (ḥūriyya), adjective and feminine singulative of حُور (ḥūr) from Classical Arabic حُورٌ عِينٌ (ḥūrun ʕīnun, “fair maidens, black-eyed ones”). See أَحْوَر m (ʔaḥwar), حَوْرَاء f (ḥawrāʔ) for the base adjective.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).