kittle
verb, adjective
kittle is spelled K-I-T-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, kittle means “To tickle, to touch lightly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in kittle?
| Letters | 6: K-I-T-T-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 89,388th 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 kittle?
Kittle appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th 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 kittle?
Kittle 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).
What rhymes with kittle?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as kittle.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kittel.
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 kittle
- kittles present, singular, he/she/it
- kittling participle, present
- kittled participle, past
- kittel
- kittler comparative
- kittlest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kittle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
ScotlandTo tickle, to touch lightly.
- 2
ScotlandTo bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter.
adjective
- 1
ScotlandTicklish.
- 2
ScotlandNot easily managed
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does kittle come from?
From Middle English kitelen, from Old English citelian (“to tickle”), from Proto-West Germanic *kitilōn, from Proto-Germanic *kitilōną, frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *kitōną (“to tickle”), from Proto-Indo-European *geyd- (“to stick, jab, tickle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).