motel
mo·tel/moʊˈtɛl/noun, verb
motel is spelled M-O-T-E-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables (mo·tel). It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hotel vs motel” about 5,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, motel means “A type of hotel or lodging establishment, often located near a major highway, which typically features a series of rooms whose entrances are…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of motel is motels.
How many letters and syllables are in motel?
| Letters | 5: M-O-T-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mo·tel |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is motel?
Motel appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 motel?
- US /moʊˈtɛl/
Motel has 2 syllables, split mo·tel in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-motel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with motel
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with motel?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as motel from its last stressed vowel (/ɛl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of motel
- motels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- motelling participle, present
- motelled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does motel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A type of hotel or lodging establishment, often located near a major highway, which typically features a series of rooms whose entrances are immediately adjacent to a parking lot to facilitate convenient access to parked automobiles.
- 2
A low-cost short-stay hotel, often with hourly rates rather than daily rates, and notorious for permitting illicit sexual activities; a love hotel.
verb
- 1
informalTo stay in a motel or motels.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Motel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense type of hotel:
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.