plethora
/ˈplɛθəɹə/noun
plethora is spelled P-L-E-T-H-O-R-A: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, plethora means “An excessive amount or number; an abundance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plethora is plethorae or plethoras.
How many letters and syllables are in plethora?
| Letters | 8: P-L-E-T-H-O-R-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is plethora?
Plethora appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th 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 plethora?
- UK /ˈplɛθəɹə/
- UK /ˈplɛðəɹə/
- UK /plɪˈθɔːɹə/
Plethora has 3 syllables (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: En-us-plethora.ogg, En-au-plethora.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of plethora
- plethorae plural
- plethoras plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plethora mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An excessive amount or number; an abundance.
The menu offers a plethora of cuisines from around the world.
- 2
Excess of blood in the skin, especially in the face and especially chronically.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plethora in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense excess, abundance:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pléthore |
| German | Fülle, Übermaß |
| Portuguese | pletora, plêiade, profusão, abundância, infinidade, série |
| Spanish | plétora |
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 plethora come from?
Borrowed from Late Latin plēthōra, from Ancient Greek πληθώρα (plēthṓra, “fullness, satiety”), from πλήθω (plḗthō, “to be full”) + -η (-ē, nominal suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).