kluge
/kluːd͡ʒ/noun, verb
kluge is spelled K-L-U-G-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kluge means “Something that should not work, but does” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kluge is kluges.
How many letters and syllables are in kluge?
| Letters | 5: K-L-U-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 90,432nd 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 kluge?
Kluge appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd 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 kluge?
- /kluːd͡ʒ/
Kluge 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-kluge.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with kluge?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as kluge.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kugel.
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 kluge
- kluges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- kluging participle, present
- kluged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kluge mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that should not work, but does.
- 2
A device assembled from components intended for disparate purposes.
verb
- 1
Alternative spelling of kludge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does kluge come from?
From US military slang, possibly from German klug (“clever”), or perhaps from Dutch Low Saxon klütje (“(little) dumpling, clod”), Jutland Danish klyt (“piece of bad workmanship, klud(g)e”); compare standard Danish kludder (“mess, disorder”). (Compare English klutz.) According to the OED, an "invented word" influenced by bodge and fudge. Compare kludge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).