sabotage
/ˈsæ.bəˌtɑːʒ/noun, verb
sabotage is spelled S-A-B-O-T-A-G-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sabotage means “A deliberate action aimed at weakening someone (or something, a nation, etc) or preventing them from being successful, through subversion…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sabotage is sabotages.
How many letters and syllables are in sabotage?
| Letters | 8: S-A-B-O-T-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.2 times per million words; the 12,578th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is sabotage?
Sabotage appears 4.2 times per million words in written English, the 12,578th 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 sabotage?
- UK /ˈsæ.bəˌtɑːʒ/
- UK /ˈsæ.bɒˌtɑːʒ/
- UK /sæ.bɒˈtɑːʒ/
Sabotage has 3 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sabotage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sabotage
- sabotages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sabotaging participle, present
- sabotaged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sabotage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A deliberate action aimed at weakening someone (or something, a nation, etc) or preventing them from being successful, through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction.
verb
- 1
To deliberately destroy or damage something in order to prevent it from being successful.
The railway line had been sabotaged by enemy commandos.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sabotage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sabotage , saboter |
| German | Sabotage , sabotieren |
| Portuguese | sabotagem , sabotar |
| Spanish | sabotaje , sabotear |
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 sabotage come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French sabotage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).