knockabout
/ˈnɑk.əˌbaʊt/adjective, noun
knockabout is spelled K-N-O-C-K-A-B-O-U-T: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 124,184th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, knockabout means “Boisterous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in knockabout?
| Letters | 10: K-N-O-C-K-A-B-O-U-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 124,184th 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 knockabout?
Knockabout appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 124,184th 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 knockabout?
- UK /ˈnɒk.əˌbaʊt/
- US /ˈnɑk.əˌbaʊt/
Knockabout has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of knockabout
- knockabouts plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does knockabout mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Boisterous
- 2
Suitable for rough use.
I have a knockabout cello for non-concert gigs.
noun
- 1
Clothing suitable for rough use.
- 2
A worker habitually engaged in casual employment.
- 3
A person living in rough, violent conditions.
- 4
A tumbler.
- 5
A slapstick comedian or comedy.
- 6
A small sailboat lacking a bowsprit, of a type found primarily in the Massachusetts area.
We sailed our knockabout around Cape Cod.
- 7
informalAn act of playing a sport casually or informally.
The kids had a knockabout with a football in the backyard.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does knockabout come from?
Deverbal from knock about.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).