shovelware
sho·vel·ware/ˈʃʌvəlwɛɚ/noun
shovelware is spelled S-H-O-V-E-L-W-A-R-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (sho·vel·ware). It appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a derogatory noun, shovelware means “A haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shovelware?
| Letters | 10: S-H-O-V-E-L-W-A-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sho·vel·ware |
| In writing | about once in every 66 million words; the 255,765th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is shovelware?
Shovelware appears about once in every 66 million words in written English, the 255,765th 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 shovelware?
- UK /ˈʃʌvəlwɛə(ɹ)/
- US /ˈʃʌvəlwɛɚ/
Shovelware has 3 syllables, split sho·vel·ware in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-shovelware.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does shovelware mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
derogatoryslangA haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality.
- 2
slangTraditional media content, such as printed news reports, republished hastily on the Internet without considering the needs and capabilities of that medium.
Click onto it, however, and you will find a great deal of the content simply reproduces the news reports and features that appear in the printed newspaper – shovelware. […] [M]odified shovelware can also encompass shortened or otherwise ame
- 3
derogatoryslangVideo games of low quality
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does shovelware come from?
From shovel + -ware.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).