lame
/leɪm/adjective, verb, noun
lame is spelled L-A-M-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lame means “Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lame?
| Letters | 4: L-A-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lame?
Lame appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd 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 lame?
- US /leɪm/
Lame has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-lame.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-lame.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lame.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lame?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lame from its last stressed vowel (/eɪm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: male, meal, mela, amel, lema, leam.
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 lame
- lamer comparative
- lamest superlative
- lames present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- laming participle, present
- lamed participle, past
- lamés plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lame mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs.
With the years, this horse has little by little gone lame.
- 2
That cannot be moved properly.
- 3
datedoffensivePhysically disabled.
a lame man
- 4
datedHobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect.
- 5
colloquialUnconvincing or unbelievable.
He had a really lame excuse for missing the birthday party.
- 6
colloquialUncool, uninteresting, or unfunny.
He kept telling these extremely lame jokes all night.
verb
- 1
To cause (a person or animal) to become lame.
noun
- 1
slangA stupid or undesirable person.
- 2
A thin layer or plate of material, as in certain kinds of armor.
- 3
A set of joined overlapping metal plates.
- 4
A kitchen tool for scoring bread dough before baking.
noun
- 1
A fabric made from gold or silver threads and silk, wool or cotton.
- 2
The electrically conductive jacket worn by foil and sabre fencers.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lame in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | boiteux, boiteuse , pitoyable, nul, bancal, bateau |
| German | lahm , ätzend, öde |
| Portuguese | manco, perneta, coxo, capenga , deixar manco |
| Spanish | cojo, rengo, renco, arrengado , chafa , tullir |
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 lame come from?
From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃lemH- (“to tire; to break”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).