ow
/ˈaʊ/interjection, noun
ow is spelled O-W: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, ow means “Synonym of ouch (“cry of pain”)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ow?
| Letters | 2: O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.4 times per million words; the 12,216th 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 ow?
Ow appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th 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 ow?
- /ˈaʊ/
Ow 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-ow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with ow
Also written: oww.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of ow
- ows plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
Synonym of ouch (“cry of pain”).
- 2
Used for emotional emphasis.
noun
- 1
An uttering of an 'ow'.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).