shuffle
/ˈʃʌfəl/noun, verb
shuffle is spelled S-H-U-F-F-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shuffle means “The act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shuffle is shuffles.
How many letters and syllables are in shuffle?
| Letters | 7: S-H-U-F-F-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th 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 shuffle?
Shuffle appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 shuffle?
- /ˈʃʌfəl/
Shuffle 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: En-us-shuffle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shuffle
- shuffles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- shuffling participle, present
- shuffled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shuffle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of mixing cards or mah-jong tiles so as to randomize them.
He made a real mess of the last shuffle.
- 2
The act of reordering anything, such as music tracks in a media player.
- 3
An instance of walking without lifting one's feet.
The sad young girl left with a tired shuffle.
- 4
A rhythm commonly used in blues music, consisting of a series of triplet notes with the middle note missing, so that it sounds like a long note followed by a short note, and suggests a walker dragging one foot.
- 5
A dance move in which the foot is scuffed back and forth across the floor.
- 6
A trick; an artifice; an evasion.
verb
- 1
To put in a random order.
Don't forget to shuffle the cards.
- 2
To change; modify the order of something.
- 3
To move in a slovenly, dragging manner; to drag or scrape the feet in walking or dancing.
He shuffled out of the room.
- 4
To change one's position; to shift ground; to evade questions; to resort to equivocation; to prevaricate.
- 5
To use arts or expedients; to make shift.
- 6
To shove one way and the other; to push from one to another.
to shuffle money from hand to hand
- 7
To remove or introduce by artificial confusion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shuffle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | battage , battre, mélanger , traîner les pieds |
| German | Mischen, Mischeln, Durchmischen , mischen, mischeln , Schlurfen |
| Portuguese | embaralhamento, baralhar , embaralhar , arrastar os pés |
| Spanish | baraje, barajada, barajadura , barajear, barajar, naipear |
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 shuffle come from?
Originally the same word as scuffle, and properly a frequentative of shove.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).