prosaic
/pɹoʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/adjective
prosaic is spelled P-R-O-S-A-I-C: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, prosaic means “Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prosaic?
| Letters | 7: P-R-O-S-A-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd 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 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 prosaic?
Prosaic appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd 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 prosaic?
- UK /pɹəʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/
- US /pɹoʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/
Prosaic has 3 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-prosaic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with prosaic?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as prosaic from its last stressed vowel (/eɪɪk/):
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 prosaic
- more prosaic comparative
- most prosaic superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prosaic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.
The tenor of Eliot's prosaic work differs greatly from that of his poetry.
- 2
Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.
I was simply making the prosaic point that we are running late.
- 3
Overly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.
His account of the incident was so prosaic that I nodded off while reading it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prosaic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose:
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 prosaic come from?
From Middle French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus (“in prose”), from Latin prosa (“prose”), from prorsus (“straightforward, in prose”), from Old Latin provorsus (“straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), from vertō (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).