itch
/ɪt͡ʃ/noun, verb
itch is spelled I-T-C-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, itch means “A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of itch is itches.
How many letters and syllables are in itch?
| Letters | 4: I-T-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th 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 itch?
Itch appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th 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 itch?
- /ɪt͡ʃ/
Itch 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-itch.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with itch?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as itch.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: chit, tich.
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 itch
- itches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- itching participle, present
- itched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does itch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area.
- 2
A constant teasing desire or want.
verb
- 1
To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.
- 2
To have a constant, teasing urge; to feel strongly motivated; to want or desire something.
He started learning to drive and he has been itching for opportunities to practice ever since.
- 3
To cause to feel an itch.
- 4
colloquialTo scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Itch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | démangeaison, prurit , démanger, gratter, picoter |
| German | Jucken, Juckreiz , jucken, kratzen, kitzeln , in den Fingerspitzen jucken |
| Portuguese | coceira, comichão, prurido , coçar, comichar, prurir |
| Spanish | picazón, picor, comezón, rasquiña, comecome , prurito |
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 itch come from?
From Middle English icche, ȝicche, from Old English ġiċċe (“itch”), from Proto-Germanic *jukjǭ (“itch”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots yeuk (“itch, itchiness”), Dutch jeuk (“itch”), German jucken.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).