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PlainSpell

rip

/ɹɪp/verb, noun, interjection

rip is spelled R-I-P: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Rip, the name). As a verb, rip means “To divide or separate the parts of (especially something flimsy, such as paper or fabric), by cutting or tearing; to tear off or out by violence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in rip?

Letters3: R-I-P
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing18 times per million words; the 4,589th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 rip?

Rip appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Rip, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rip?

  • /ɹɪp/

Rip 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-rip.ogg, En-au-rip.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with rip?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rip.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: pir.

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 rip

  • rips present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • ripping participle, present
  • ripped participle, past

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

What does rip mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    To divide or separate the parts of (especially something flimsy, such as paper or fabric), by cutting or tearing; to tear off or out by violence.

    to rip a garment; to rip up a floor

  2. 2

    To tear apart; to rapidly become two parts.

    My shirt ripped when it was caught on a bramble.

  3. 3

    To remove violently or wrongly.

    A child untimely ripped from its parents' arms.

  4. 4

    To get by, or as if by, cutting or tearing.

  5. 5

    To move quickly and destructively.

    The tornado ripped through northern Nebraska.

  6. 6

    To cut wood along (parallel to) the grain.

  7. 7

    slangTo copy data from a CD, DVD, Internet stream, etc., to a hard drive, portable device, etc.

  8. 8

    slangTo take a hit, dose or shot of a drug (such as marijuana) or alcohol.

    He spent the day ripping shots at the bar and ripping blunts at home.

noun

  1. 1

    A tear (in paper, etc.).

  2. 2

    AustraliaA rip current: a strong outflow of surface water, away from the shore, that returns water from incoming waves.

  3. 3

    A tract of broken water (in a river or stream), particularly one which is not as rough as rapids.

  4. 4

    slangA comical, embarrassing, or hypocritical event or action.

  5. 5

    slangA hit (dose) of marijuana.

  6. 6

    UKA black mark given for substandard schoolwork.

  7. 7

    slangSomething unfairly expensive, a rip-off.

  8. 8

    slangData or audio copied from a CD, DVD, Internet stream, etc. to a hard drive, portable device, etc.

    Some of these CD rips don't sound very good: what bitrate did you use?

  9. 9

    ScotlandA handful of unthreshed grain.

  10. 10

    colloquialdatedA worthless horse; a nag.

  11. 11

    colloquialdatedAn immoral man; a rake, a scoundrel.

interjection

as RIP
  1. 1

    Initialism of requiescat in pace, requiescant in pace, or rest in peace (a blessing or expression of hope that a deceased person is at peace).

    RIP, Pope Francis.

  2. 2

    informalExpressing disappointment at the fact that someone or something has come to an end or gone away.

    RIP Vine. Only real ones remember.

  3. 3

    slangExpressing concern about something bad happening to someone or something.

    That jumpscare is so loud! RIP headphone users.

  4. 4

    slangExpressing mild disappointment or embarrassment.

    I applied to dozens of companies and didn't get a single job offer, RIP.

  5. 5

    derogatoryInitialism of rest in piss.

  6. 6

    rareInitialism of rest in power.

noun

as RIP
  1. 1

    Repeat-induced point mutation, a process by which both copies of duplicated sequences are mutated.

  2. 2

    USInitialism of reduction in pay.

  3. 3

    Initialism of ribosome-inactivating protein.

interjection

  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of RIP.

    lmfao rip your dms

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

Rip in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanreissen, zerreißen, trennen, auftrennen, zertrennen, reißen (to divide or separate the parts of)
Portugueserasgar (to divide or separate the parts of), ripar (to copy data to a device)
Spanishrasgar, desgarrar, ripear (to divide or separate the parts of), DEP, Q.E.P.D., q. e. p. d. (abbreviation: rest in peace)
Frenchripper (to copy data to a device), REP (abbreviation: rest in peace), se déchirer (to rapidly become two parts)

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 rip come from?

From Middle English rippen, from earlier ryppen (“to pluck”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rupjaną, *ruppōną, intensive of *raupijaną, causative of Proto-Indo-European *roub- ~ *reub-, variant of *Hrewp- (“to break”). See also West Frisian rippe, ripje, roppe, ropje (“to rip”), Dutch dialectal rippen, Low German ruppen, German Low German röpen, German rupfen, also Old English rīpan, rīepan (“to plunder”), West Frisian rippe (“to rip, tear”), German raufen (“to rip”); also Albanian rrabe ‘maquis’, possibly Latin rubus (“bramble”). More at reave, rob.

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

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