salty
/ˈsɔlti/adjective
salty is spelled S-A-L-T-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, salty means “Tasting of salt” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in salty?
| Letters | 5: S-A-L-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.5 times per million words; the 10,519th 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 salty?
Salty appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th 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 salty?
- UK /ˈsɒlti/
- UK /ˈsɔːlti/
- US /ˈsɔlti/
Salty has 2 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: En-au-salty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with salty?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as salty from its last stressed vowel (/ɔlti/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: slaty.
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 salty
- saltier comparative
- saltiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does salty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Tasting of salt.
- 2
Containing salt.
- 3
Coarse; provocative; earthy.
- 4
Experienced, especially used to indicate a veteran of the naval services; salty dog (from salt of the sea).
- 5
slangIrritated, annoyed, angry, bitter.
- 6
Pertaining to the Sardinian language and those dialects of Catalan, spoken in the Balearic Islands and along the coast of Catalonia, that use definitive articles descended from the Latin ipse (“self”) instead of the Latin ille (“that”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Salty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | salé , saumâtre , amer, amère, vénère |
| German | salzig , gesalzen, salzhaltig , ungehobelt, rüde |
| Portuguese | salgado, salobro , salobre |
| Spanish | salado, salobre , salitroso, con sal , saleroso |
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 salty come from?
Inherited from Middle English salti. Equivalent to salt + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian soaltig (“salty”), West Frisian sâltich (“salty”), Dutch zoutig (“salty”), German Low German soltig (“salty”), German salzig (“salty”). (coarse; irritated, annoyed): Referencing the sharp, 'spicy' flavor of salt. (indignant): Perhaps implying the person is a crybaby, shedding salty tears, or derived from the preceding.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).