hustle
/ˈhʌsəl/verb, noun
hustle is spelled H-U-S-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hustle means “To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hustle?
| Letters | 6: H-U-S-T-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.0 times per million words; the 11,198th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hustle?
Hustle appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th 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 hustle?
- /ˈhʌsəl/
Hustle 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: En-us-hustle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hustle?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as hustle.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sleuth.
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 hustle
- hustles present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- hustling participle, present
- hustled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hustle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle.
- 2
To rush or hurry.
I'll have to hustle to get there on time.
- 3
To bundle; to stow something quickly.
- 4
To con, swindle, or deceive, especially financially.
The guy tried to hustle me into buying into a bogus real estate deal.
- 5
To play deliberately badly at a game or sport in an attempt to encourage players to challenge one.
- 6
informalTo obtain by illicit or forceful action.
- 7
informalTo sell sex; to work as a pimp.
- 8
informalTo be a prostitute; to exchange use of one's body for sexual purposes for money.
noun
- 1
A state of busy activity.
- 2
A propensity to work hard and get things done; ability to hustle.
- 3
A type of disco dance, commonly danced to the Van McCoy song The Hustle (1975).
- 4
A scam or swindle.
- 5
slangAn activity, such as prostitution or reselling stolen items, that a prisoner uses to earn money in prison.
- 6
slangAn act of prostitution.
- 7
informalAn activity, especially to achieve a desired goal or make money.
Everybody's got a hustle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hustle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bousculer, s'agiter, se grouiller, se dépêcher , bousculade, agitation |
| German | sich beeilen, hetzen , Hast, Hektik , betrügen, abziehen |
| Portuguese | apressar-se |
| Spanish | darse prisa, apurarse , engañar, engrupir , trapichear, hacer los imposibles |
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 hustle come from?
From Dutch husselen or by metathesis from Dutch hutselen (“to shake up”), a frequentative of hutsen (“to stir, to move something (back and forth)”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).