Skip to main content
PlainSpell

pert

/pɝt/adjective

pert is spelled P-E-R-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pert means “Attractive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pert?

Letters4: P-E-R-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 pert?

Pert appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd 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 pert?

  • UK /pɜːt/
  • US /pɝt/

Pert 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)-Mélange_a_trois-pert.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pert?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pert from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: terp.

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 pert

  • perter comparative
  • pertest superlative
  • perts present, singular, he/she/it
  • perting participle, present
  • perted participle, past

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

What does pert mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Attractive.

  2. 2

    Well-formed; shapely.

    pert breasts

  3. 3

    Lively; alert and cheerful; bright.

  4. 4

    archaicEspecially of children or social inferiors: cheeky, impertinent.

  5. 5

    obsoleteOpen; evident; unhidden.

  6. 6

    obsoleteClever.

noun

as PERT
  1. 1

    Acronym of program evaluation and review technique.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo behave with pertness; to misbehave.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteAn impudent person.

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

Pert in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanattraktiv (attractive), wohlgeformt (well-formed, shapely), flott, lebhaft, schwungvoll, munter (lively; brisk; sprightly; smart)
Frenchanimé (lively; brisk; sprightly; smart), impertinent (indecorously free, or presuming; saucy; bold…)

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 pert come from?

From Middle English pert, perte, aphetic form of apert.

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

What to look up after pert