porous
/ˈpɔɹəs/adjective
porous is spelled P-O-R-O-U-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, porous means “Full of tiny pores that allow fluids or gasses to pass through” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in porous?
| Letters | 6: P-O-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is porous?
Porous appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th 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 porous?
- UK /ˈpɔːɹəs/
- US /ˈpɔɹəs/
- US [ˈpɔ.ɹəs]
Porous 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: En-au-porous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with porous?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as porous from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹəs/):
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 porous
- more porous comparative
- most porous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does porous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Full of tiny pores that allow fluids or gasses to pass through.
Sponges are porous so they can filter water while trapping food.
- 2
With many gaps or loopholes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Porous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense full of tiny pores:
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 porous come from?
From Old French poros, from Latin porus (“an opening”). By surface analysis, pore + -ous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).