silhouette
sil·hou·ette/ˌsɪluˈɛt/noun, verb
silhouette is spelled S-I-L-H-O-U-E-T-T-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (sil·hou·ette). It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, silhouette means “An artistic depiction, often of a person's profile, in the form of an outline without any other visual details, similar to a shadow, made by cutting…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of silhouette is silhouettes.
How many letters and syllables are in silhouette?
| Letters | 10: S-I-L-H-O-U-E-T-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sil·hou·ette |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is silhouette?
Silhouette appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th 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 silhouette?
- UK /ˌsɪlʊˈɛt/
- US /ˌsɪluˈɛt/
- US /-lə-/
Silhouette has 3 syllables, split sil·hou·ette in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-silhouette.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with silhouette?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as silhouette from its last stressed vowel (/ɛt/):
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 silhouette
- silhouettes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- silhouet
- silhouetting participle, present
- silhouetted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does silhouette mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An artistic depiction, often of a person's profile, in the form of an outline without any other visual details, similar to a shadow, made by cutting a piece of black paper, filling in an outline with a solid colour (usually black), etc.
- 2
A dark outline of someone or something seen against a brighter background.
I could see a silhouette of a figure looking out from the window, but I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.
- 3
An outline of a garment as it appears on a wearer.
A-line is a classic silhouette for dresses and skirts.
- 4
A brief written description of someone or something; an outline, a sketch.
verb
- 1
Often followed by against or upon: to depict (oneself or someone, or something) as a silhouette (noun sense 1 or noun sense 2.1); to project (oneself or someone, or something) upon a background, so as to be like a silhouette.
- 2
To appear as a silhouette.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Silhouette in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense artistic depiction in the form of an outline without any other visual details:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | silhouette |
| German | Silhouette, Schattenriss |
| Portuguese | silhueta, contorno |
| Spanish | silueta |
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 silhouette come from?
The noun is a unadapted borrowing from French silhouette, from the surname of Étienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), France’s Controller-General of Finances.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).