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PlainSpell

retard

re·tard/ɹɪˈtɑɹd/noun, verb

retard is spelled R-E-T-A-R-D: 6 letters and 2 syllables (re·tard). It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, retard means “A retardation; a delay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of retard is retards.

How many letters and syllables are in retard?

Letters6: R-E-T-A-R-D
Syllables2: re·tard
In writing2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 retard?

Retard appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th 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 retard?

  • UK /ɹɪˈtɑːd/
  • UK [ɹʷɪˈtʰɑːd]
  • US /ɹɪˈtɑɹd/

Retard has 2 syllables, split re·tard in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-retard-verb.ogg, En-us-retard_(delay_sense).ogg, En-uk-retard-noun.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with retard?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as retard from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: trader, darter.

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 retard

  • retards plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • retarding participle, present
  • retarded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does retard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A retardation; a delay.

  2. 2

    A slowing down of the tempo; a ritardando.

  3. 3

    datedoffensiveA person with mental retardation.

    The retard in our class needs special help.

  4. 4

    informaloffensiveA person or being who is extremely stupid or slow to learn.

verb

  1. 1

    To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progressing.

    retard the march of an army

  2. 2

    To put off; to postpone.

    to retard the attacks of old age

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo be slow or dilatory to perform (something).

  4. 4

    To decelerate; to slow down.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo stay back.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate retard?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of retard: RTD.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Retard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchretard (retardation; delay), retardé (a person with mental retardation), attardé (a stupid person, or one who is slow to learn)
GermanVerzögerung, Verspätung (retardation; delay), verhindern (keep delaying; impede; etc), verschieben, aufschieben (put off; postpone), zurückbleiben (stay back)
Spanishperecear (retardation; delay), retrasado, retrasada, retrasado mental, retardado mental (a person with mental retardation), retardar (keep delaying; impede; etc)

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 retard come from?

From Middle English retarden, from Anglo-Norman retarder, from Latin retardō (“to retard”, from re- + tardus (“slow”)).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after retard