max
/mæks/adjective, adverb, noun, verb
max is spelled M-A-X: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Max, the name). As an adjective, max means “Maximum; maximal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in max?
| Letters | 3: M-A-X |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 46 times per million words; the 2,204th 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 max?
Max appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Max, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce max?
- /mæks/
Max 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: En-us-max.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of max
- maxes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- maxing participle, present
- maxed participle, past
- maxs. plural
- λmaxes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does max mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
informalMaximum; maximal.
adverb
- 1
informalat the most; maximum.
noun
- 1
informalClipping of maximum.
- 2
informalAn extreme, a great extent.
He pushed himself to the max.
- 3
obsoleteslangGin.
verb
- 1
To reach the limit; to reach the maximum.
He maxed out his odds of dating Rebecca.
- 2
informalTo relax.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Max in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense abbreviation for maximum:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | max |
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 max come from?
Abbreviation of maximum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).