roast
/ɹoʊst/verb, noun, adjective
roast is spelled R-O-A-S-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, roast means “To cook food by heating in an oven or over a fire without covering, resulting in a crisp, possibly even slightly charred appearance” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in roast?
| Letters | 5: R-O-A-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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 roast?
Roast appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th 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 roast?
- US /ɹoʊst/
- UK /ɹəʊst/
Roast 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-roast.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with roast
Also written: rost.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with roast?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as roast from its last stressed vowel (/oʊst/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sorta, astro, artos.
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 roast
- roasts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- roasting participle, present
- roasted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does roast mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To cook food by heating in an oven or over a fire without covering, resulting in a crisp, possibly even slightly charred appearance.
to roast meat on a spit
- 2
To cook by surrounding with hot embers, ashes, sand, etc.
to roast a potato in ashes
- 3
To process by drying through exposure to sun or artificial heat.
Coffee beans need roasting before use.
- 4
To heat to excess; to heat violently; to burn.
- 5
To admonish someone vigorously.
I'm late home for the fourth time this week; my mate will really roast me this time.
- 6
To subject to bantering, severely criticize, sometimes as a comedy routine.
He roasted a bully who then fought with him.
- 7
To dissipate the volatile parts of by heat, as ores.
noun
- 1
A piece of meat suited to roasting; meat that has been roasted.
Near-synonym: joint
- 2
A meal consisting of roast foods.
Come over this weekend for Sunday roast.
- 3
The degree to which something, especially coffee, is roasted.
Dark roast means that the coffee bean has been roasted to a higher temperature and for a longer period of time than in light roast.
- 4
An instance of being severely admonished, criticized, roasted.
- 5
A comical event, originally fraternal, where a person is subjected to verbal attack, yet may be praised by sarcasm and jokes.
- 6
CanadaUSA social event at which food is roasted and eaten.
On Memorial Day we hosted a wiener roast in the backyard.
- 7
slangA creative insult as a response to something someone said.
adjective
- 1
Having been cooked by roasting.
- 2
Subjected to roasting; bantered; severely criticized.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Roast in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rôtir , incendier, clasher , rôti , bien-cuit |
| German | braten, rösten , Braten , gebraten |
| Portuguese | assar , assado , torrar , assadura |
| Spanish | asar, rostir, rustir, rostizar, tatemar , carne asada |
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 roast come from?
From Middle English rosten, a borrowing from Old French rostir (“to roast, to torture with fire”), from Frankish *rōstijan (“to roast, broil”), from Proto-Germanic *raustijaną (“to roast”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hrews- (“to crackle; roast”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian rosterje (“to roast”), Dutch roosten, roosteren (“to roast”), German rösten (“to roast”). Displaced native Middle English breden, bræden (“to roast”), from Old English brǣdan, related to German braten (“to roast, grill”). The noun is from Middle English roste, from Old French rost, roste, from the verb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).