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PlainSpell

shit

/ʃɪt/noun, adjective, verb, interjection

shit is spelled S-H-I-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 302 times per million words in written English, the 316th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a vulgar noun, shit means “Usually solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels; feces” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shit is shits.

How many letters and syllables are in shit?

Letters4: S-H-I-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing302 times per million words; the 316th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 shit?

Shit appears 302 times per million words in written English, the 316th 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 shit?

  • /ʃɪt/

Shit 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-shit.ogg, En-uk-shit.ogg, En-au-shit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with shit?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as shit.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: this, hits, sith, hist, tish.

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 shit

  • shits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • s--t
  • s**t
  • s–t
  • shite UK
  • sheeyit
  • sheeit
  • sheit
  • shiet
  • shi
  • shii
  • shitter comparative
  • more shit comparative
  • shittest superlative
  • most shit superlative
  • shitting participle, present

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does shit mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    colloquialvulgarUsually solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels; feces.

    The field is covered in shit.

  2. 2

    colloquialinformalvulgarThe act of shitting.

    I need to take a shit.

  3. 3

    colloquialvulgarRubbish; worthless matter.

    Throw that shit out!

  4. 4

    colloquialvulgarStuff, things.

    I want your shit out of my garage by tomorrow.

  5. 5

    UScolloquialslangvulgar(the shit) The best of its kind.

    These grapes are the shit!

  6. 6

    slangvulgarGenitalia, especially male.

    jerk one's shit

  7. 7

    colloquialvulgarNonsense; bullshit.

    Everything he says is a load of shit.

  8. 8

    colloquialvulgarA nasty, despicable person, used particularly of men.

    Her son has been a real shit to her.

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialvulgarOf poor quality; worthless.

    What a shit film that was!

  2. 2

    colloquialvulgarNasty; despicable.

    That was a shit thing to do to him.

verb

  1. 1

    colloquialvulgarTo defecate.

    For quotations using this term, see Citations:shit.

  2. 2

    colloquialvulgarTo excrete (something) through the anus.

  3. 3

    colloquialvulgarTo defecate on; to soil through defecating.

    I laughed so hard I shat myself.

  4. 4

    colloquialslangvulgarTo fart (especially a wet fart) or shart.

  5. 5

    colloquialvulgarTo fool or try to fool someone; to be deceitful.

    Twelve hundred dollars!? Are you shitting me!?

  6. 6

    AustraliaIrelandUKcolloquialvulgarTo annoy.

interjection

  1. 1

    colloquialslangvulgarExpression of worry, failure, shock, etc., often at something seen for the first time or remembered immediately before using this term.

    Shit! I think that I forgot to pack my sleeping bag last night!

  2. 2

    colloquialvulgarUsed to show displeasure or surprise.

    "Oh, shit. I left my worksheet at home," she said to the language arts teacher, which got her in trouble.

  3. 3

    colloquialvulgarUsed for mere emphasis; heck, hey.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate shit?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of shit: SSS, shi.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Shit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmerde, crotte (solid excretory product – see also feces, poop…), tuerie, de la balle, de la bombe (the best of its kind), merdique (of poor quality)
GermanScheiße, Scheisse, Kacke (solid excretory product – see also feces, poop…), beschissen (of poor quality), Scheiß (rubbish), Scheiss (nonsense, bullshit)
Portuguesemerda, bosta (solid excretory product – see also feces, poop…), porcaria, besteira (rubbish), cagar (to defecate – see also defecate, poop), merda! (expression of worry, failure)
Spanishmierda, caca, cuacha, cacota, ñaña, cagada (solid excretory product – see also feces, poop…)

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 shit come from?

From Middle English schit, schyt, from Old English *sċite (“dung”) and sċitte (“diarrhoea”), from Proto-West Germanic *skiti and *skittjā, from Proto-Germanic *skitiz, from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (“to split, divide, separate”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after shit