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PlainSpell

mug

/mʌɡ/noun, verb, adjective

mug is spelled M-U-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mug means “A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mug is mugs.

How many letters and syllables are in mug?

Letters3: M-U-G
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is mug?

Mug appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th 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 mug?

  • US /mʌɡ/
  • Australia /mɐɡ/
  • /məɡ/

Mug 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-mug.ogg, En-au-mug.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with mug?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mug from its last stressed vowel (/ʌɡ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: gum.

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 mug

  • mugs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mugging participle, present
  • mugged participle, past
  • mugger comparative
  • muggest superlative

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

What does mug mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer.

  2. 2

    derogatoryslangThe face.

  3. 3

    derogatoryslangThe mouth.

    Shut your mug!

  4. 4

    derogatoryslangA gullible or easily cheated person.

    He's a gullible mug – he believed her again.

  5. 5

    AustraliaIrelandUKderogatoryslangA stupid or contemptible person.

  6. 6

    slangA criminal.

  7. 7

    slangA mug shot.

    Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being a

  8. 8

    slangMotherfucker (usually in similes, e.g. "like a mug" or "as a mug")

verb

  1. 1

    IrelandUKobsoleteTo strike in the face.

  2. 2

    To assault for the purpose of robbery.

  3. 3

    To exaggerate a facial expression for communicative emphasis; to make a face, to pose, as for photographs or in a performance, in an exaggerated or affected manner.

    The children weren't interested in sitting still for a serious photo; they mugged for the camera.

  4. 4

    To photograph for identification; to take a mug shot of.

    Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being a

  5. 5

    AustraliaIndiaIrelandUKslangTo learn or review a subject as much as possible in a short time; cram.

adjective

  1. 1

    slangUninteresting or unpleasant.

noun

as Mug
  1. 1

    Alternative form of Magh.

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

Mug in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
French(grande) tasse, chope, mug (large cup), bobine, gueule, margoulette ((slang) the face)
GermanBecher, Tasse (large cup), Gesicht, Visage, Fresse ((slang) the face), Idiot ((colloquial) a person who is easily fooled)
Portuguesecaneca (large cup), cara, fuça ((slang) the face), trouxa ((colloquial) a person who is easily fooled), assaltar (to assault for the purpose of robbery)
Spanishtaza, jícara, pocillo (large cup), jeta ((slang) the face), idiota, tonto del culo ((colloquial) a person who is easily fooled)

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 mug come from?

Early 16th century (originally Scots and northern English, denoting "earthenware, pot, jug"), of unknown origin, perhaps from North Germanic (compare Swedish mugg (“mug, jug”), Norwegian mugge (“pitcher, open can for warm drinks”), Danish mugge), or Low German mokke, mukke (“mug”), German Low German Muck (“drinking cup”), Dutch mok (“mug”), also of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Old English muga (“stack”) and Old Norse múgr (“mass, heap (of corn)”). Compare also Middle English mug, mog (“a measure of salt”).

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

What to look up after mug