poised
/pɔɪzd/adjective, verb
poised is spelled P-O-I-S-E-D: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, poised means “Possessing poise, having self-confidence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in poised?
| Letters | 6: P-O-I-S-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th 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 poised?
Poised appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th 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 poised?
- /pɔɪzd/
Poised 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-poised.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of poised
- more poised comparative
- most poised superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does poised mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Possessing poise, having self-confidence.
- 2
Ready, prepared.
He stood there, poised to act, and then suddenly he drew his gun in a smooth arc.
- 3
Balanced, in position, in equilibrium.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of poise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Poised in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | im Gleichgewicht, selbstsicher , bereit , das Gleichgewicht haltend, ausbalanciert |
| Spanish | bien compuesto, de / con buena compostura , listo, listoco, preparado, presto |
| French | prêt |
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.