sexting
/ˈsɛkstɪŋ/noun, verb
sexting is spelled S-E-X-T-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sexting means “The act of transmitting and/or receiving sexually suggestive text messages and/or photographs between cell phones equipped with text messaging” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sexting is sextings.
How many letters and syllables are in sexting?
| Letters | 7: S-E-X-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th 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 sexting?
Sexting appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th 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 sexting?
- UK /ˈsɛkstɪŋ/
Sexting 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-sexting.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sexting
- sextings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sexting mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
slangThe act of transmitting and/or receiving sexually suggestive text messages and/or photographs between cell phones equipped with text messaging.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of sext
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sexting in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sending sexually explicit text messages or photographs between cell phones:
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 sexting come from?
Blend of sex + texting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).