owed
/oʊd/adjective, verb
owed is spelled O-W-E-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, owed means “That owes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in owed?
| Letters | 4: O-W-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| 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 owed?
Owed appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th 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 owed?
- US /oʊd/
- UK /əʊd/
- /oːd/
Owed 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-owed.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with owed
Sounds like: ode (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with owed?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as owed from its last stressed vowel (/oʊd/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wode.
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 owed
- more owed comparative
- most owed superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does owed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That owes.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of owe
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Owed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | adeudado |
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.