prone
/pɹoʊn/adjective, verb
prone is spelled P-R-O-N-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prone means “Lying face-down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prone?
| Letters | 5: P-R-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 prone?
Prone appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th 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 prone?
- UK /pɹəʊn/
- US /pɹoʊn/
- Australia /pɹəʉn/
Prone 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-prone.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-prone.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with prone?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as prone from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: preon.
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 prone
- proner comparative
- more prone comparative
- pronest superlative
- most prone superlative
- prones present, singular, he/she/it
- proning participle, present
- proned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Lying face-down.
prone position
- 2
Of the hand, forearm or foot: turned facing away from the body; with the thumb inward or big toe downward.
The hand is in the prone position typically when using a keyboard; and the forearm is then also in the prone position; when the foot is resting on the inner side of the sole, it is in the prone position.
- 3
Having a downward inclination or slope.
- 4
Shooting from a position while lying down.
- 5
Predisposed, liable, inclined, given (to something) (most often, specifically to being befallen by an unsought bad outcome, rather than to undertaking a willful behavior or to having a happy accident).
prone to failure
verb
- 1
To place in a prone position, to place face down.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | couché sur le ventre , enclin , prédisposé |
| German | in Bauchlage , schräg , anfällig, geneigt |
| Portuguese | de bruços , inclinado, prono , propenso |
| Spanish | postrado, de bruces, en decúbito prono, prono , propenso, propendiente |
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 prone come from?
From Middle English prone, proone, proon, from Latin prōnus (“turned forward, bent or inclined”), from prō (“forward”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).