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PlainSpell

inspire

/ɪnˈspaɪɹ/verb

inspire is spelled I-N-S-P-I-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “aspire vs inspire” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, inspire means “To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in inspire?

Letters7: I-N-S-P-I-R-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is inspire?

Inspire appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st 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 inspire?

  • UK /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/
  • US /ɪnˈspaɪɹ/
  • Australia /ɪnˈspɑeə(ɹ)/

Inspire 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-inspire.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with inspire

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

aspire vs inspire720 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with inspire?

11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as inspire from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɹ/):

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 inspire

  • inspires present, singular, he/she/it
  • inspiring participle, present
  • inspired participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does inspire mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by inspiration.

  2. 2

    To infuse into; to affect, as with a superior or supernatural influence; to fill with what animates, enlivens or exalts; to communicate inspiration to.

    Elders should inspire children with sentiments of virtue.

  3. 3

    To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale.

  4. 4

    To infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing.

  5. 5

    archaicTo breathe into; to fill with the breath; to animate.

  6. 6

    To spread rumour indirectly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Inspire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinspirer (to infuse into the mind; to communicate to the…)
Germaninspirieren (to infuse into the mind; to communicate to the…), beatmen, einhauchen (to infuse by breathing, or as if by breathing)
Portugueseinspirar (to infuse into the mind; to communicate to the…)
Spanishinspirar, infundir (to infuse into; to affect, as with a superior…)

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 inspire come from?

From Middle English inspiren, enspiren, from Old French inspirer, variant of espirer, from Latin īnspīrāre (“inspire”), itself a loan-translation of Biblical Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō, “breathe”), from in + spīrō (“breathe”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow, breathe”). Displaced native Old English onbryrdan (literally “to prick in”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after inspire