pretzel
/ˈpɹɛt.səl/noun, verb
pretzel is spelled P-R-E-T-Z-E-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pretzel means “A toasted bread or cracker usually in the shape of a loose knot” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pretzel is pretzels.
How many letters and syllables are in pretzel?
| Letters | 7: P-R-E-T-Z-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th 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 pretzel?
Pretzel appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th 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 pretzel?
- /ˈpɹɛt.səl/
- [ˈpʰɹɛʔt͡sɫ̩]
Pretzel 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-us-pretzel.ogg, En-au-pretzel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pretzel
- pretzels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- brezel rare
- pretzeling US, participle, present
- pretzelling UK, participle, present
- pretzeled US, participle, past
- pretzelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pretzel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A toasted bread or cracker usually in the shape of a loose knot.
- 2
Anything that is knotted, twisted, or tangled.
verb
- 1
CanadaUSinformalTo bend, twist, or contort.
They discovered a snake pretzelled into knots.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pretzel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense toasted bread or cracker in the shape of a knot:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bretzel |
| German | Breze, Brezel, Brezen, Pretzel |
| Portuguese | pretzel |
| Spanish | pretzel, brezel |
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.