pensioner
pen·sion·er/ˈpɛnʃənɚ/noun
pensioner is spelled P-E-N-S-I-O-N-E-R: 9 letters and 3 syllables (pen·sion·er). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pensioner means “Someone who lives on a pension, especially the retirement or old age pension” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pensioner is pensioners.
How many letters and syllables are in pensioner?
| Letters | 9: P-E-N-S-I-O-N-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pen·sion·er |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pensioner?
Pensioner appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd 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 pensioner?
- UK /ˈpɛnʃənə/
- UK [ˈpɛnʃənə] ~ [ˈpɛnʃn̩ə]
- US /ˈpɛnʃənɚ/
Pensioner has 3 syllables, split pen·sion·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pensioner.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pensioner
- pensioners plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pensioner mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CanadaUKSomeone who lives on a pension, especially the retirement or old age pension.
- 2
Someone who is at the age at which one typically receives a pension; an elderly person.
- 3
UKobsoleteA student who is not dependent on any foundation for support, but pays all university charges.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pensioner in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense someone who lives on a pension:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | retraité, retraitée |
| German | Rentner, Rentnerin, Pensionär, Pensionärin |
| Portuguese | pensionista, reformado, reformada, aposentado, aposentada |
| Spanish | pensionista |
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 pensioner come from?
From Middle English pensioner, from Anglo-Norman pensionner and Old French pensionnier, from Medieval Latin pēnsiōnārius. By surface analysis, pension + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).