resolve
/ɹɪˈzɑlv/verb, noun
resolve is spelled R-E-S-O-L-V-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, resolve means “To find a solution to (a problem)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in resolve?
| Letters | 7: R-E-S-O-L-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,407th 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 resolve?
Resolve appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,407th 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 resolve?
- UK /ɹɪˈzɒlv/
- UK /ɹiːˈzɒlv/
- US /ɹɪˈzɑlv/
Resolve 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: En-us-resolve.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with resolve
Also written: re-solve (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with resolve?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as resolve from its last stressed vowel (/ɑlv/):
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 resolve
- resolves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- resolving participle, present
- resolved participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does resolve mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To find a solution to (a problem).
- 2
To reduce to simple or intelligible notions; to make clear or certain; to unravel; to explain.
to resolve a riddle
- 3
To make a firm decision to do something. To become determined to reach a certain goal or take a certain action.
I resolve to finish this work before I go home.
- 4
To determine or decide in purpose; to make ready in mind; to fix; to settle.
He was resolved by an unexpected event.
- 5
To come to an agreement or make peace; patch up relationship, settle differences, bury the hatchet.
After two weeks of bickering, they finally resolved their differences.
- 6
To break down into constituent parts; to decompose; to disintegrate; to return to a simpler constitution or a primeval state.
The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.
- 7
To cause to perceive or understand; to acquaint; to inform; to convince; to assure; to make certain.
- 8
To cause a chord to go from dissonance to consonance.
- 9
Alternative spelling of re-solve.
noun
- 1
Determination; will power.
It took all my resolve to go through with the surgery.
- 2
A determination to do something; a fixed decision.
- 3
An act of resolving something; resolution.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Resolve in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | résoudre , se résoudre , détermination |
| German | lösen, auflösen , beschließen, sich entschließen , Entschlossenheit |
| Portuguese | resolver, decidir |
| Spanish | resolver, zanjar , resolución |
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 resolve come from?
From Middle English resolven, from Old French resolver, a learned borrowing of Latin resolvō (“loosen, thaw, melt, resolve”), equivalent to re- + solve. Piecewise doublet of re-solve.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).