lickety
/ˈlɪkɪti/adverb
lickety is spelled L-I-C-K-E-T-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 16 million words in written English, the 121,279th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, lickety means “At full speed, fast” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lickety?
| Letters | 7: L-I-C-K-E-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 16 million words; the 121,279th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is lickety?
Lickety appears about once in every 16 million words in written English, the 121,279th 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 lickety?
- /ˈlɪkɪti/
Lickety 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).
Forms of lickety
- lickedy
- licketie
- lickerty
- licketty
- lickity
- lickoty
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lickety mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
USinformalAt full speed, fast.
lickety-cut
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does lickety come from?
Somewhat disputed. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests either the verb or noun lick “stroke with the tongue”, with -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words. Merriam-Webster supports OED, deriving lickety-split from the same senses of lick. Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary, in contrast, suggests it is a variant of the noun lick “sprint; rate of speed”. Some writers suggest that lickety-split may be onomatopoeic – compare clickety, clicketty-clack – but they note this as personal opinion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).