mountainous
/ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs/adjective
mountainous is spelled M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N-O-U-S: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, mountainous means “Having many mountains; characterized by mountains; of the nature of a mountain; rough (terrain); rocky” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mountainous?
| Letters | 11: M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.4 times per million words; the 17,587th 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 mountainous?
Mountainous appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th 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 mountainous?
- UK /ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs/
- US /ˈmaʊn.tɪ.nəs/
- US /ˈmaʊn.tə.nəs/
Mountainous 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-mountainous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mountainous
- more mountainous comparative
- most mountainous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mountainous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having many mountains; characterized by mountains; of the nature of a mountain; rough (terrain); rocky.
- 2
Resembling a mountain, especially in size; huge; towering.
- 3
Very difficult.
- 4
obsoleteInhabiting mountains; hence, barbarous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mountainous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having many mountains:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | montagneux |
| German | bergig, gebirgig |
| Portuguese | montanhoso |
| Spanish | montañoso |
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 mountainous come from?
From mountain + -ous after Middle French montagneux, from Late Latin montāniōsus, from montānia, from Latin montem (“mountain”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).