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PlainSpell

shot

/ʃɑt/adjective, noun, verb, interjection

shot is spelled S-H-O-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 166 times per million words in written English, the 611th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, shot means “Tired, weary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in shot?

Letters4: S-H-O-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing166 times per million words; the 611th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is shot?

Shot appears 166 times per million words in written English, the 611th 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 shot?

  • UK /ʃɒt/
  • US /ʃɑt/

Shot 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-shot.wav, En-us-shot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with shot

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

shot vs shut0 B

Sounds like: chott, shott (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: shut.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with shot?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shot from its last stressed vowel (/ɑt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: host, tosh, hots.

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 shot

  • more shot comparative
  • most shot superlative
  • shots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • shotting participle, present
  • shotted participle, past

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

What does shot mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Tired, weary.

    I have to go to bed now; I’m shot.

  2. 2

    Discharged, cleared, or rid of something.

  3. 3

    colloquialWorn out or broken.

    The rear axle will have to be replaced. It’s shot.

  4. 4

    Woven from warp and weft strands of different colours, resulting in an iridescent appearance.

    The cloak was shot through with silver threads.

noun

  1. 1

    The result of launching a projectile or bullet.

    The shot was wide of the mark.

  2. 2

    The act of launching a ball or similar object toward a goal.

    They took the lead on a last-minute shot.

  3. 3

    The heavy iron ball used for the shot put.

    The shot flew twenty metres, and nearly landed on the judge's foot.

  4. 4

    The athletics event of shot put.

  5. 5

    Small metal balls, or other hard objects of various shapes, used as ammunition, especially in shotgun shells or artillery shells.

    Steel shot, unlike lead shot, avoids contaminating the land with spent lead.

  6. 6

    Metal or stone balls (or similar), not necessarily small, used as ammunition.

    The shot for this ship's deck guns, in that day, consisted only of solid iron balls such as ten-pounders.

  7. 7

    Someone who shoots (a gun, longbow, etc.); a person reckoned as to their aim.

    He'd make a bad soldier, since he's a lousy shot.

  8. 8

    An opportunity or attempt.

    I'd like just one more shot at winning this game.

verb

  1. 1

    To load (a gun) with shot.

  2. 2

    To sell illegal drugs; to deal.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo feed small shot to (a horse), as a fraudulent means of disguising broken-windedness.

  4. 4

    simple past and past participle of shoot (a form of shoot)

interjection

  1. 1

    colloquialAn expression of gratitude, similar to thank you.

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

Shot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfichu, naze (worn out), crevé (tired, weary), tir (result of launching a projectile), frappe (launching of a ball or similar object toward a…), poids (heavy iron ball used for the shot put)
Spanishdesgastado (worn out), cansado, deshecho, desfecho, hecho polvo, adolorido (tired, weary)
GermanSchuss (result of launching a projectile), Wurf (launching of a ball or similar object toward a…), Kugel (heavy iron ball used for the shot put), Schrot (small metal balls used as ammunition)
Portuguesetiro (result of launching a projectile), chute (launching of a ball or similar object toward a…), peso (heavy iron ball used for the shot put), dose (measure of alcohol), foto, fotografia (photography: single unbroken sequence of…)

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 shot come from?

The past participle of shoot.

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

What to look up after shot