hunch
/hʌnt͡ʃ/noun, verb
hunch is spelled H-U-N-C-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hunch means “A hump; a protuberance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hunch is hunches.
How many letters and syllables are in hunch?
| Letters | 5: H-U-N-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,420th 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 hunch?
Hunch appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th 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 hunch?
- /hʌnt͡ʃ/
- /hʌnʃ/
Hunch has one syllable (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-hunch.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hunch
- hunches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hunching participle, present
- hunched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hunch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hump; a protuberance.
- 2
A stooped or curled posture; a slouch.
The old man walked with a hunch.
- 3
A theory, idea, or guess; an intuitive impression that something will happen.
I have a hunch they'll find a way to solve the problem.
- 4
A hunk; a lump; a thick piece.
a hunch of bread
- 5
A push or thrust, as with the elbow.
verb
- 1
To bend the top of one's body forward while raising one's shoulders.
Don't hunch over your computer if you want to avoid neck problems.
- 2
To raise (one's shoulders) (while lowering one's head or bending the top of one's body forward); to curve (one's body) forward (sometimes followed by up).
They stood outside the door hunching themselves against the rain and puffing on their cigarettes.
- 3
To walk (somewhere) while hunching one's shoulders.
- 4
To thrust a hump or protuberance out of (something); to crook, as the back.
- 5
To push or jostle with the elbow; to push or thrust against (someone).
- 6
colloquialTo have a hunch, or make an intuitive guess.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hunch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bosse , intuition, pressentiment , se voûter |
| German | Hügel, Protuberanz, Buckel , Ahnung , gekrümmte Haltung, krummer Rücken |
| Portuguese | corcunda, corcova, protuberância , palpite, pressentimento, intuição |
| Spanish | joroba, corcova, giba, chepa, gibosidad , corazonada |
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 hunch come from?
Assibilated variant of hunk, of uncertain origin. Alternatively, a derivative of hump, via an earlier Middle English *hunche, *humpchin, from *hump + -chin, -chen (diminutive suffix), equivalent to hump + -kin. In the sense of an intuitive impression, said to be from the old gambling superstition that it brings luck to touch the hump of a hunchback.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).