piercing
/ˈpɪɹsɪŋ/noun, adjective, verb
piercing is spelled P-I-E-R-C-I-N-G: 8 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, piercing means “A hole made in the body so that jewellery can be worn through it” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of piercing is piercings.
How many letters and syllables are in piercing?
| Letters | 8: P-I-E-R-C-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th 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 piercing?
Piercing appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th 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 piercing?
- US /ˈpɪɹsɪŋ/
- UK /ˈpɪəsɪŋ/
Piercing has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-piercing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of piercing
- piercings plural
- more piercing comparative
- most piercing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does piercing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
gerund of pierce
- 2
A hole made in the body so that jewellery can be worn through it.
ear piercing
- 3
An item of jewellery designed to be fitted through a piercing (noun sense 2).
adjective
- 1
Appearing to look deeply into; penetrating.
piercing eyes
- 2
Of temperature, extremely cold so that it penetrates through clothing and shelter.
- 3
Of sound, loud and sharp; shrill.
The piercing noise of the children could be heard two blocks from the elementary school.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of pierce
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Piercing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | piercing |
| German | Piercing , durchdringend, stechend , beißend , schrill |
| Portuguese | piercing, pírcingue |
| Spanish | pirsin, piercing , punzante |
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 piercing come from?
From pierce + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).