masochist
/ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/noun
masochist is spelled M-A-S-O-C-H-I-S-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, masochist means “Someone who enjoys pain or humiliation, or who derives pleasure from harming oneself or being harmed by others” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of masochist is masochists.
How many letters and syllables are in masochist?
| Letters | 9: M-A-S-O-C-H-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,788th 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 masochist?
Masochist appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,788th 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 masochist?
- /ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/
Masochist 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)-Vealhurl-masochist.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-NaomiAmethyst-masochist.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of masochist
- masochists plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does masochist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who enjoys pain or humiliation, or who derives pleasure from harming oneself or being harmed by others.
- 2
colloquialslangSomeone who puts up with teasing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Masochist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense someone who enjoys pain or humiliation:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | masochiste |
| German | Masochist, Masochistin |
| Portuguese | masoquista |
| Spanish | masoquista |
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 masochist come from?
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch + -ist. Coined by Richard von Krafft-Ebing and popularized by Freud in relation to sadomasochism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).