playa
play·a/ˈplaɪə/noun
playa is spelled P-L-A-Y-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables (play·a). It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Playa, the name). As a noun, playa means “A level area which habitually fills with water that evaporates entirely” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of playa is playas.
How many letters and syllables are in playa?
| Letters | 5: P-L-A-Y-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: play·a |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is playa?
Playa appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Playa, 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 playa?
- US /ˈplaɪə/
As a noun (“A dude (an informal term of address or general term to…”): /ˈpleɪə/.
Playa has 2 syllables, split play·a in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Knabrupt-playa.wav, En-au-playa.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with playa?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as playa from its last stressed vowel (/aɪə/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: palay.
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 playa
- playas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does playa mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USA level area which habitually fills with water that evaporates entirely.
- 2
slangA dude (an informal term of address or general term to describe a person, typically male).
- 3
slangA player (someone who plays the field, or has prowess in gaining romantic and sexual relationships).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does playa come from?
Borrowed from Spanish playa (“beach”). Doublet of plage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).