Skip to main content
PlainSpell

jostle

/ˈd͡ʒɑ.səl/verb, noun

jostle is spelled J-O-S-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, jostle means “To bump into or brush against while in motion; to push aside” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in jostle?

Letters6: J-O-S-T-L-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 6 million words; the 73,203rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is jostle?

Jostle appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd 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 jostle?

  • UK /ˈd͡ʒɒs.əl/
  • US /ˈd͡ʒɑ.səl/

Jostle 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: En-us-jostle.ogg, En-au-jostle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with jostle?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as jostle from its last stressed vowel (/ɑsəl/):

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 jostle

  • jostles present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • jostling participle, present
  • jostled participle, past

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

What does jostle mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To bump into or brush against while in motion; to push aside.

  2. 2

    To move through by pushing and shoving.

  3. 3

    To be close to or in physical contact with.

  4. 4

    To contend or vie in order to acquire something.

  5. 5

    datedslangTo pick or attempt to pick pockets.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of jostling someone or something; push, shove.

  2. 2

    The action of a jostling crowd.

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

Jostle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbousculer (bump into or brush against while in motion), se bousculer (move through by pushing and shoving), bousculade (act of jostling), cohue (action of a jostling crowd)
Germandrängeln (bump into or brush against while in motion), Drängelei, Gedrängel (act of jostling), Gedränge, Rempelei (action of a jostling crowd)
Portugueseesbarrar (bump into or brush against while in motion)
Spanishcodear, empujar (move through by pushing and shoving)

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 jostle come from?

Originally justle (“to have sex with”), formed from Middle English jousten, from the Old French joster (“to joust”), from Latin iuxtā (“next to”), from iungō (“join, connect”), equivalent to joust + -le.

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

What to look up after jostle