jazz
/d͡ʒæz/noun, verb
jazz is spelled J-A-Z-Z: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Jazz, the name). As a noun, jazz means “A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jazz is jazzes.
How many letters and syllables are in jazz?
| Letters | 4: J-A-Z-Z |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,224th 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 jazz?
Jazz appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,224th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Jazz, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jazz?
- /d͡ʒæz/
Jazz 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-au-jazz.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jazz
- jazzes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- jazzing participle, present
- jazzed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jazz mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time, commonly characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation.
- 2
Energy, excitement, excitability.
- 3
The substance or makeup of a thing; unspecified thing(s).
and all that jazz
- 4
Something of excellent quality, the genuine article.
That show was the jazz!
- 5
Nonsense.
Stop talking jazz.
- 6
slangSemen, jizz.
- 7
A red-skinned variety of eating apple.
verb
- 1
slangTo destroy; to ruin.
You’ve gone and jazzed it now!
- 2
To play (jazz music).
- 3
To dance to the tunes of jazz music.
- 4
To enliven, brighten up, make more colourful or exciting.
- 5
slangTo complicate.
Don’t jazz it too much!
- 6
USdatedslangTo have sex for money, to prostitute oneself.
- 7
slangTo move (around/about) in a lively or frivolous manner; to fool around.
- 8
slangTo distract or pester.
Stop jazzing me!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Jazz in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jazz |
| German | Jazz |
| Portuguese | jazz , porcariada, coisarada , suprassumo , besteira |
| Spanish | jazz |
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 jazz come from?
Unknown. First attested around 1912 in a discussion of baseball; attested in reference to music around 1915. Numerous references suggest that the term may be connected to jasm and jism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).