perk
/pɝk/noun, verb
perk is spelled P-E-R-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, perk means “Perquisite” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of perk is perks.
How many letters and syllables are in perk?
| Letters | 4: P-E-R-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is perk?
Perk appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st 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 perk?
- US /pɝk/
- UK /pɜːk/
Perk 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-perk.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with perk
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: perc.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with perk?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as perk from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹk/):
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 perk
- perks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- perq
- perking participle, present
- perked participle, past
- more perk comparative
- most perk superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalPerquisite.
Free coffee is one of the perks of the job.
- 2
A bonus ability that a player character can acquire; a permanent power-up.
- 3
A percolator, particularly of coffee.
verb
- 1
informalTo make (coffee) in a percolator or a drip coffeemaker.
I’ll perk some coffee.
- 2
informalOf coffee: to be produced by heated water seeping (“percolating”) through coffee grounds.
The coffee is perking.
- 3
To make trim or smart; to straighten up; to erect; to make a jaunty or saucy display of.
- 4
To appear from below or behind something, emerge, pop up, poke out.
- 5
obsoleteTo exalt oneself; to bear oneself loftily.
- 6
datedTo peer; to look narrowly, sharply, or inquisitively.
- 7
To examine thoroughly.
- 8
obsoleteTo perch.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteSmart; trim; spruce; jaunty; vain.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense perquisite:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | avantage |
| German | Vorteil, Privileg, Vergünstigung, Extra, Dreingabe |
| Portuguese | bônus, privilégio |
| Spanish | ventaja, prebenda, gaje, emolumento, gratificación, obvención |
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 perk come from?
Clipping of perquisite.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).