rainy
/ˈɹeɪni/adjective
rainy is spelled R-A-I-N-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, rainy means “Pouring with rain; wet; showery” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rainy?
| Letters | 5: R-A-I-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.5 times per million words; the 10,519th 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 rainy?
Rainy appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th 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 rainy?
- /ˈɹeɪni/
Rainy 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rainy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rainy
- rainier comparative
- rainiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rainy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pouring with rain; wet; showery
Due to the rainy weather, we decided not to play in the park.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rainy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense abounding with rain:
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 rainy come from?
From Middle English reyny, from Old English reġniġ, from Proto-West Germanic *regnag, from Proto-Germanic *regnagaz (“rainy”), equivalent to rain + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian rienig (“rainy”), West Frisian reinich (“rainy”), Dutch regenig (“rainy”), German regnig (“rainy”), Swedish regnig (“rainy”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).