resistant
/ɹəˈzɪstənt/noun, adjective
resistant is spelled R-E-S-I-S-T-A-N-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, resistant means “A person who resists; especially a member of a resistance movement” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of resistant is resistants.
How many letters and syllables are in resistant?
| Letters | 9: R-E-S-I-S-T-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th 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 resistant?
Resistant appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th 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 resistant?
- /ɹəˈzɪstənt/
Resistant 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-resistant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of resistant
- resistants plural
- more resistant comparative
- most resistant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does resistant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who resists; especially a member of a resistance movement.
- 2
A thing which resists.
adjective
- 1
Which makes resistance or offers opposition.
- 2
Which is not affected or overcome by a disease, drug, chemical or atmospheric agent, extreme of temperature, etc.
The infection is resistant to antibiotics.
- 3
Not greatly influenced by individual members of a sample.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Resistant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | résistant |
| German | Widerstandskämpfer , resistent , widerstandsfähig |
| Portuguese | resistente |
| Spanish | resistente |
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 resistant come from?
From French résistant; equivalent to resist + -ant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).