popcorn
/ˈpɑp.kɔɹn/noun, verb
popcorn is spelled P-O-P-C-O-R-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, popcorn means “A snack food made from corn or maize kernels popped by dry heating” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of popcorn is popcorns.
How many letters and syllables are in popcorn?
| Letters | 7: P-O-P-C-O-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th 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 popcorn?
Popcorn appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th 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 popcorn?
- UK /ˈpɒp.kɔːn/
- US /ˈpɑp.kɔɹn/
- /ˈpʌp.kɔɹn/
Popcorn has 2 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-popcorn.wav, En-us-popcorn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of popcorn
- popcorns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pop-corn
- popped corn
- popcorning participle, present
- popcorned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does popcorn mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A snack food made from corn or maize kernels popped by dry heating.
My friends and I ordered popcorn during the interval of the movie.
- 2
A variety of corn or maize with a hard outer hull that, along with the type of starch it contains, makes it suitable for popping.
That farm grows popcorn.
- 3
A serving of popcorn.
I'll have a small popcorn.
- 4
rareA piece of popcorn.
She keeps dropping her popcorns.
- 5
A bite-size food preparation made by battering and deep-frying one or more ingredients, most often chicken.
popcorn chicken
- 6
Entertainment that is, or has the potential to be, popular but is vapid and provides little intellectual or artistic merit.
The movie was entertaining enough, but it was just popcorn entertainment.
- 7
Entertainment for observers.
If they get in a fight, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the popcorn.
- 8
A kind of stitch similar to a bobble.
verb
- 1
To stand or jump up quickly.
- 2
To pop repeatedly, like popcorn cooking.
- 3
rareTo use the popcorn stitch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Popcorn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a snack food made from corn kernels popped by dry heating:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | popcorn, maïs soufflé, maïs éclaté |
| German | Popcorn, Puffmais |
| Portuguese | pipoca |
| Spanish | palomitas de maíz, cabritas, cancha, canchita, canguil, cotufas |
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 popcorn come from?
Short for popped corn. By surface analysis, pop + corn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).