Skip to main content
PlainSpell

pansy

/ˈpæn.zi/noun, adjective, verb

pansy is spelled P-A-N-S-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Pansy, the name). As a noun, pansy means “A cultivated flowering plant, derived by hybridization within species Viola tricolor” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pansy is pansies.

How many letters and syllables are in pansy?

Letters5: P-A-N-S-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 pansy?

Pansy appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Pansy, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pansy?

  • /ˈpæn.zi/

Pansy has 2 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: En-au-pansy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of pansy

  • pansies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • pancy
  • pansying participle, present
  • pansied participle, past

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

What does pansy mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A cultivated flowering plant, derived by hybridization within species Viola tricolor.

  2. 2

    A deep purple colour, like that of the pansy.

  3. 3

    Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Junonia.

  4. 4

    colloquialderogatoryA timid, weak man or boy; a wuss.

  5. 5

    colloquialdatedderogatoryA male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

adjective

  1. 1

    Wimpy; spineless; feeble.

  2. 2

    Of a deep purple colour, like that of the pansy.

verb

  1. 1

    slangTo mess about; to fail to get things done.

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

Pansy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpensée (plant), mauve, indigo (colour), fiotte (informal: coward or weak person)
GermanStiefmütterchen (plant)
Portugueseamor-perfeito (plant)
Spanishpensamiento, trinitaria (plant), marica, fifí, fifirifi (informal: coward or weak person)

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 pansy come from?

From Middle French pensée (“thought”), as the plant resembles someone that is in deep thought, with a lowered head. Doublet of pensée.

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

What to look up after pansy