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PlainSpell

pow

/paʊ/interjection, noun

pow is spelled P-O-W: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, pow means “The sound of a violent impact, such as a punch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pow?

Letters3: P-O-W
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.8 times per million words; the 16,228th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 pow?

Pow appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th 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 pow?

  • /paʊ/
  • Australia [pəʉ]

Pow 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-au-pow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with pow

Also written: poll.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with pow?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as pow.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: wop.

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 pow

  • pows plural

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

What does pow mean?

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

interjection

  1. 1

    The sound of a violent impact, such as a punch.

  2. 2

    The sound of an explosion or gunshot.

noun

  1. 1

    The sound of a violent impact.

  2. 2

    The sound of an explosion.

  3. 3

    IrelandScotlandAlternative form of poll.

  4. 4

    slangClipping of powder (“powder snow”).

noun

as POW
  1. 1

    Initialism of prisoner of war.

    After his capture, he was taken to a camp for POWs.

  2. 2

    Initialism of place of worship.

  3. 3

    Alternative letter-case form of PoW (“proof of work”).

noun

as PoW
  1. 1

    Initialism of proof of work.

  2. 2

    Initialism of prisoner of war.

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

Pow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanKr.Gef. (abbreviation of prisoner of war)
Spanishzas (sound of a violent impact), pum (sound of an explosion)

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 pow come from?

Onomatopoeic.

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

What to look up after pow