potential
po·ten·tial/pəˈtɛnʃəl/noun, adjective
potential is spelled P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L: 9 letters and 3 syllables (po·ten·tial). It appears 102 times per million words in written English, the 1,048th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, potential means “A currently unrealized ability (with the most common adposition being to)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of potential is potentials.
How many letters and syllables are in potential?
| Letters | 9: P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: po·ten·tial |
| In writing | 102 times per million words; the 1,048th 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; 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 potential?
Potential appears 102 times per million words in written English, the 1,048th 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 potential?
- US /pəˈtɛnʃəl/
- US /po(ʊ)ˈtɛnʃəl/
Potential has 3 syllables, split po·ten·tial in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-potential.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with potential?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as potential from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnʃəl/):
- essential
- influential
- confidential
- existential
- prudential
- consequential
- experiential
- circumferential
- reverential
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 potential
- potentials plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does potential mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A currently unrealized ability (with the most common adposition being to).
Even from a young age it was clear that she had the potential to become a great musician.
- 2
The gravitational potential: the radial (irrotational, static) component of a gravitational field, also known as the Newtonian potential or the gravitoelectric field.
- 3
The work (energy) required to move a reference particle from a reference location to a specified location in the presence of a force field, for example to bring a unit positive electric charge from an infinite distance to a specified point against an electric field.
- 4
A verbal construction or form stating something is possible or probable.
adjective
- 1
Existing in possibility, not in actuality.
- 2
archaicBeing potent; endowed with energy adequate to a result
- 3
irrotational
- 4
irrotational (see potential flow on Wikipedia)
- 5
Referring to a verbal construction of form stating something is possible or probable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Potential in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | possibilités, potentiel |
| German | Potential , möglich, potenziell, potentiell |
| Portuguese | potencial |
| Spanish | potencial , posible |
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.