show
/ʃoʊ/verb, noun
show is spelled S-H-O-W. The wrong spelling people search most is sohw: about 340 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 43 of all searches for the word. Show is a verb meaning “To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something”.
How many letters and syllables are in show?
| Letters | 4: S-H-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 479 times per million words; the 197th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, sohw, about 340 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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 do you spell show?
Show is spelled S-H-O-W. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 43 of the searches for show in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is show?
Show appears 479 times per million words in written English, the 197th 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 show?
- UK /ʃəʊ/
- US /ʃoʊ/
- Canada [ʃoː]
Show 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-show.ogg, En-uk-to_show.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with show
Also written: show don't tell.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with show?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as show from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
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 show
- shows present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- showing participle, present
- showed past, US, participle, rare, singular, he/she/it, plural
- shown participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does show mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.
The king showed great wisdom in his decisions.
- 2
To indicate; to convey facts that lead to a conclusion.
The record shows that you have been late twelve times this year.
- 3
To guide or escort; to show the way.
Could you please show him on his way. He has overstayed his welcome.
- 4
To bestow; to confer.
to show mercy; to show favour
- 5
To put on a movie, TV show, etc; to be presented in this way.
The cinema on Ninth Avenue is showing a couple family movies.
- 6
To display artwork in a gallery or museum.
John is showing his work tonight.
- 7
To display on offer.
The store on Eighth Street is showing the new spring collection in the window.
- 8
To give hints to the apparent or purported nature of one's hand of cards.
There's a bunch of ways to show a bad hand.
noun
- 1
A play, dance, or other entertainment.
There were a thousand people at the show.
- 2
An exhibition of items.
art show; dog show
- 3
A broadcast program, especially a light entertainment program.
radio show; television show
- 4
A movie.
Let's catch a show.
- 5
AustraliaAn agricultural exhibition.
I'm taking the kids to the show on Tuesday.
- 6
A project or presentation.
Let's get on with the show.
- 7
A demonstration.
show of force
- 8
Mere display or pomp with no substance. (Usually seen in the phrases “all show” and “for show”.)
The dog sounds ferocious but it's all show.
- 9
Synonym of shive (“wood fragment of the husk of flax or hemp”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Show in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | montrer , démontrer , se voir , spectacle, festival , exposition |
| German | zeigen , sich zeigen , Show, Schau , führen , Demonstration |
| Portuguese | mostrar, apresentar , demonstrar , show, espetáculo , mostra |
| Spanish | mostrar, enseñar , show |
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 show come from?
From Middle English schewen, from Old English scēawian (“to look, look at, exhibit, display”), from Proto-West Germanic *skauwōn, from Proto-Germanic *skawwōną (“to look, see”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- (“to heed, look, feel, take note of”); see haw, gaum, caveat, caution.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).