roustabout
noun, verb
roustabout is spelled R-O-U-S-T-A-B-O-U-T: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, roustabout means “An unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of roustabout is roustabouts.
How many letters and syllables are in roustabout?
| Letters | 10: R-O-U-S-T-A-B-O-U-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 21 million words; the 138,319th 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 roustabout?
Roustabout appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 138,319th 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 roustabout?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-roustabout.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of roustabout
- roustabouts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- rouseabout
- roustabouting participle, present
- roustabouted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does roustabout mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USAn unskilled laborer, especially at an oilfield, at a circus or on a ship.
See also quotations under rouseabout.
verb
- 1
To work as a roustabout.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Roustabout in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an unskilled laborer:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Hilfsarbeiter |
| Spanish | jornalero |
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 roustabout come from?
From roust + about.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).