prompt
/pɹɑmpt/adjective, noun, verb
prompt is spelled P-R-O-M-P-T. The wrong spelling people search most is promt: about 480 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 14 of all searches for the word. Prompt is an adjective meaning “Quick; acting without delay”.
How many letters and syllables are in prompt?
| Letters | 6: P-R-O-M-P-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, promt, about 480 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell prompt?
Prompt is spelled P-R-O-M-P-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 14 of the searches for prompt in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is prompt?
Prompt appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th 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 prompt?
- UK /pɹɒmpt/
- US /pɹɑmpt/
Prompt 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prompt.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-prompt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prompt
- more prompt comparative
- most prompt superlative
- prompts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- prompting participle, present
- prompted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prompt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Quick; acting without delay.
He was very prompt at getting a new job.
- 2
On time; punctual.
Be prompt for your appointment.
- 3
archaicReady; willing to act.
- 4
Front: closest or nearest, in futures trading.
noun
- 1
A word, phrase or line supplied by a prompter to an actor who has forgotten the script.
- 2
A suggestion for inspiration given to an author.
- 3
A sequence of characters that is displayed to indicate that a computer is ready to receive input.
I filled in my name where the prompt appeared on the computer screen, but my account wasn't recognized.
- 4
Textual input given to a large language model or image model in order to have it generate a desired output.
I struggled to come up with a prompt that would give me the exact image I had in mind.
- 5
datedA time limit given for payment of an account for produce purchased, this limit varying with different goods.
verb
- 1
To lead (someone) toward what they should say or do.
I prompted him to get a new job.
- 2
To say (something) in order to help or encourage someone to speak.
"How did you solve the issue then?" Jason prompted while staring at Lana.
- 3
To show or tell (an actor/person) the words they should be saying, or actions they should be doing.
If he forgets his words I will prompt him.
- 4
To initiate; to cause or lead to.
- 5
To request (a user) to provide input or do something on a computer.
The script prompted him to enter his credit account number.
- 6
To provide textual input in the form of ordinary language to (an artificial intelligence or language model) to have it generate a desired output.
I want to prompt this new AI art generator to create an image of a panda riding a bike.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prompt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | prompt , Eingabeaufforderung , Prompt, KI-Anweisung , veranlassen, dazu bringen |
| Portuguese | rápido, imediato , prompt de comando , prompt , incitar , pontual |
| Spanish | rápido, pronto, raudo, célere , puntual , pie |
| French | invite de commande , prompt , inciter , ponctuel , indicateur , causer |
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 prompt come from?
The adjective is from Middle English prompte, from Middle French prompt and its etymon Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) + emō (“to take, acquire, buy”). Doublet of pronto. The verb is from Middle English prompen, apparently from the adjective. The noun is from the verb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).