inhibition
/ɪnhɪˈbɪʃən/noun
inhibition is spelled I-N-H-I-B-I-T-I-O-N: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, inhibition means “The act of inhibiting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of inhibition is inhibitions.
How many letters and syllables are in inhibition?
| Letters | 10: I-N-H-I-B-I-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd 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 inhibition?
Inhibition appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd 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 inhibition?
- /ɪnhɪˈbɪʃən/
- /ɪnɪˈbɪʃən/
Inhibition 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)-Vealhurl-inhibition.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of inhibition
- inhibitions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does inhibition mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of inhibiting.
- 2
A personal feeling of fear or embarrassment that stops one behaving naturally.
- 3
The process of stopping or retarding a reaction.
- 4
A writ from a higher court to an inferior judge to stay proceedings.
- 5
A recusal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inhibition in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | inhibition |
| German | Unterdrückung , Hemmung |
| Spanish | inhibición |
| Portuguese | inibição |
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 inhibition come from?
From Middle English inhibicioun, inhibicione from Old French inibicion, from Latin inhibitio. Morphologically inhibit + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).