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retarded

/ɹiˈtɑɹdɪd/adjective, verb

retarded is spelled R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D. The wrong spelling people search most is retarted: about 560 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Retarded is an adjective meaning “Delayed; delayed in development, hindered; impeded”.

How many letters and syllables are in retarded?

Letters8: R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, retarted, about 560 Bing searches a month (all of them)
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell retarded?

Retarded is spelled R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for retarded in either form.

retardedthe right spelling2,070 searches a month
retartedt in place of d560 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is retarded?

Retarded appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th 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 retarded?

  • UK /ɹɪˈtɑːdɪd/
  • US /ɹiˈtɑɹdɪd/

Retarded 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)-Flame,_not_lame-retarded.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with retarded?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as retarded from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹdɪd/):

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 retarded

  • more retarded comparative
  • most retarded superlative

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

What does retarded mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Delayed; delayed in development, hindered; impeded.

    This kind of plant is usually of a retarded growth.

  2. 2

    datedoffensiveHaving mental retardation; mentally deficient or underdeveloped.

  3. 3

    datedoffensiveSpecifically, having an IQ below 70.

  4. 4

    colloquialderogatoryoffensiveExtremely stupid; obtuse

  5. 5

    Designating a parameter of an electromagnetic field which is adjusted to account for the finite speed of radiation.

verb

  1. 1

    simple past and past participle of retard (a form of retard)

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

Retarded in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchretardé (delayed in development), attardé (having mental retardation)
Portugueseretardado (delayed in development)
Spanishretardado, retrasado (delayed in development)
Germanzurückgeblieben (having mental retardation), behindert (stupid, irrational)

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 retarded come from?

From retard + -ed.

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

What to look up after retarded