leftover
adjective, noun
leftover is spelled L-E-F-T-O-V-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “left-over vs leftover” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, leftover means “Remaining; left behind; extra; odd; in reserve” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in leftover?
| Letters | 8: L-E-F-T-O-V-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is leftover?
Leftover appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd 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 leftover?
- US
Leftover has 3 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). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-leftover.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with leftover
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: left-over (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of leftover
- left over
- left-over
- leftovers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does leftover mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Remaining; left behind; extra; odd; in reserve.
Do you want some of the leftover supplies from the event?
noun
- 1
Something left behind; an excess or remainder.
It's a leftover from yesterday, but it's still perfectly good.
- 2
Remaining after a meal is complete or eaten for a later meal or snack.
Not leftovers again!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Leftover in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | restant, restante , reste |
| German | übrig, übergeblieben , Rest |
| Portuguese | reservada, conservada, restante, deixada, deixado , sobra |
| Spanish | sobrante, sobrado , sobra, resto, retallón |
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 leftover come from?
From left (“remaining, abandoned”) + over (“excess”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).