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louse

UK /laʊs/noun, verb

louse is spelled L-O-U-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, louse means “A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of louse is lice; Wiktionary also lists louses (nonstandard).

How many letters and syllables are in louse?

Letters5: L-O-U-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 louse?

Louse appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd 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 louse?

  • UK /laʊs/

Louse 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)-Back_ache-louse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with louse

Also written: loose.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of louse

  • lice plural
  • louses present, singular, he/she/it
  • lousing participle, present
  • loused participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does louse mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.

  2. 2

    colloquialdatedA contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.

    It's then that those louses go back to their spouses. Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

  3. 3

    slangThe currency sign ¤.

verb

  1. 1

    To remove lice from; to delouse.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Louse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpou (an insect of the order Psocodea), salaud, salaude, salop, salope, salopard (worthless person)
GermanLaus (an insect of the order Psocodea), Dreckskerl, Dreckkerl, Lumpenhund, Lumpenkerl (worthless person), lausen (To remove lice)
Portuguesepiolho (an insect of the order Psocodea), sem-vergonha, canalha (worthless person)
Spanishpiojo (an insect of the order Psocodea), sinvergüenza, canalla (worthless person), despiojar (To remove lice)

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 louse come from?

From Middle English lous, lows, lowse, from Old English lūs, from Proto-West Germanic *lūs, from Proto-Germanic *lūs, from Proto-Indo-European *lewH-.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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