kingmaker
king·mak·er/ˈkɪŋˌmeɪkɚ/noun
kingmaker is spelled K-I-N-G-M-A-K-E-R: 9 letters and 3 syllables (king·mak·er). It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kingmaker means “Someone who has strong influence over the choice of a leader” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kingmaker is kingmakers.
How many letters and syllables are in kingmaker?
| Letters | 9: K-I-N-G-M-A-K-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: king·mak·er |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,913th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is kingmaker?
Kingmaker appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th 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 kingmaker?
- UK /ˈkɪŋmeɪkə/
- US /ˈkɪŋˌmeɪkɚ/
Kingmaker has 3 syllables, split king·mak·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-kingmaker.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kingmaker
- kingmakers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kingmaker mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who has strong influence over the choice of a leader.
- 2
A player who is unable to win but powerful enough to decide which of the other viable players will eventually win.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Kingmaker in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense someone who has strong influence over the choice of a leader:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | faiseur de rois |
| German | Königsmacher |
| Portuguese | fazedor de reis |
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 kingmaker come from?
From king + maker, originally used in the 16th century in “Warwick the Kingmaker”, an epithet of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (1428–1471), a key figure in the Wars of the Roses whose actions led to King Henry VI being deposed in 1461 and Edward IV appointed in his place, then Edward IV being replaced by Henry VI again in 1470.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).