rift
/ɹɪft/noun, verb
rift is spelled R-I-F-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rift means “A chasm or fissure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rift is rifts.
How many letters and syllables are in rift?
| Letters | 4: R-I-F-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.4 times per million words; the 12,216th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 rift?
Rift appears 4.4 times per million words in written English, the 12,216th 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 rift?
- /ɹɪft/
Rift has one syllable (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-rift.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with rift?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rift.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: frit.
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 rift
- rifts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- rifting participle, present
- rifted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rift mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A chasm or fissure.
The Grand Canyon is a rift in the Earth's surface, but is smaller than some of the undersea ones.
- 2
A lack of cohesion; a state of conflict, incompatibility, or emotional distance.
My marriage is in trouble: the fight created a rift between us and we can't reconnect.
- 3
A break in the clouds, fog, mist etc., which allows light through.
- 4
A shallow place in a stream; a ford.
verb
- 1
To form a rift; to split open.
- 2
To cleave; to rive; to split.
to rift an oak
- 3
To belch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rift in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fente, fissure , percée, éclaircie |
| German | Riss |
| Portuguese | rifte |
| Spanish | cisma, fisura |
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 rift come from?
From Middle English rift, of North Germanic origin; akin to Danish rift, Norwegian Bokmål rift (“breach”), Old Norse rífa (“to tear”). More at rive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).