roadrunner
road·run·ner/ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnɚ/noun
roadrunner is spelled R-O-A-D-R-U-N-N-E-R: 10 letters and 3 syllables (road·run·ner). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, roadrunner means “Either of two species of fast-running bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family native to North and Central America, the lesser roadrunner…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of roadrunner is roadrunners.
How many letters and syllables are in roadrunner?
| Letters | 10: R-O-A-D-R-U-N-N-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: road·run·ner |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 59,387th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is roadrunner?
Roadrunner appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th 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 roadrunner?
- UK /ˈɹəʊdˌɹʌnə/
- US /ˈɹoʊdˌɹʌnɚ/
Roadrunner has 3 syllables, split road·run·ner in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-roadrunner.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of roadrunner
- roadrunners plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does roadrunner mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Either of two species of fast-running bird in the genus Geococcyx of the cuckoo family native to North and Central America, the lesser roadrunner (Geococcyx velox) and, especially, the greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Roadrunner in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense fast-running bird in the genus Geococcyx:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | géocoucou |
| German | Rennkuckucke |
| Portuguese | papa-léguas |
| Spanish | correcaminos |
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 roadrunner come from?
From road + runner, probably a calque of Spanish correcaminos (“roadrunner”), from correr (“to run”) + caminos (“roads”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).