industrious
/ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/adjective
industrious is spelled I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, industrious means “Hard-working and persistent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in industrious?
| Letters | 11: I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th 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 industrious?
Industrious appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 industrious?
- /ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/
Industrious has 4 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-industrious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of industrious
- more industrious comparative
- most industrious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does industrious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Hard-working and persistent.
He was a very industrious student at school.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Industrious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense hard-working and persistent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | industrieux, diligent |
| German | fleißig, arbeitsam, eifrig |
| Portuguese | industrioso, trabalhador, esforçado, laborioso, diligente |
| Spanish | aplicado, trabajador, laborioso, empeñoso, afanoso, industrioso |
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 industrious come from?
From Middle French industrieux, from Late Latin industriosus (“diligent, active, industrious”), from Latin industria (“diligence, industry”); see industry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).