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PlainSpell

pose

/poʊz/verb, noun

pose is spelled P-O-S-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, pose means “To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pose?

Letters4: P-O-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 6,047th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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 pose?

Pose appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 6,047th 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 pose?

  • US /poʊz/
  • UK /pəʊz/

Pose 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: En-us-pose.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pose?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pose from its last stressed vowel (/oʊz/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: peso, epos, sope.

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 pose

  • poses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • posing participle, present
  • posed participle, past
  • poze

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pose mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.

    To pose a model for a picture.

  2. 2

    To ask; to set (a test, quiz, riddle, etc.).

  3. 3

    To constitute (a danger, a threat, a risk, etc.).

  4. 4

    To falsely impersonate (another person or occupation) primarily for the purpose of accomplishing something or reaching a goal.

  5. 5

    To assume or maintain a pose; to strike an attitude.

  6. 6

    To behave affectedly in order to attract interest or admiration.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo interrogate; to question.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand.

  9. 9

    obsoleteTo ask (someone) questions; to interrogate.

  10. 10

    archaicto puzzle, non-plus, or embarrass with difficult questions.

  11. 11

    archaicTo perplex or confuse (someone).

noun

  1. 1

    Position, posture, arrangement (especially of the human body).

    Please adopt a more graceful pose for my camera.

  2. 2

    Affectation.

  3. 3

    archaicCommon cold, head cold; catarrh.

adjective

as posé
  1. 1

    Held in position for a prolonged period.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pose in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmettre, poser, disposer (1. (transitive) To place in an attitude or…), représenter, constituer (3. (transitive) To constitute (a danger, a…), pose (position, arrangement (especially of the human…)
Germanstellen, legen (1. (transitive) To place in an attitude or…), Pose (position, arrangement (especially of the human…), posieren (5. (intransitive) To assume or maintain a pose…)
Portuguesepousar, colocar (1. (transitive) To place in an attitude or…), pose (position, arrangement (especially of the human…), posar (5. (intransitive) To assume or maintain a pose…), perguntar (2. (transitive) To ask; to set (a test, quiz…)
Spanishposar (1. (transitive) To place in an attitude or…), pose (position, arrangement (especially of the human…), plantear (2. (transitive) To ask; to set (a test, quiz…)

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 pose come from?

From Middle English posen, from Old French poser (“to put, place, stell, settle, lodge”), from Vulgar Latin pausāre (“to blin, cease, pause”), from Latin pausa (“pause”), from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis); influenced by Latin pōnere. Doublet of pause.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pose