sinkhole
/ˈsɪŋkˌhoʊl/noun, verb
sinkhole is spelled S-I-N-K-H-O-L-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sinkhole means “A hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sinkhole is sinkholes.
How many letters and syllables are in sinkhole?
| Letters | 8: S-I-N-K-H-O-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd 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 sinkhole?
Sinkhole appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd 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 sinkhole?
- US /ˈsɪŋkˌhoʊl/
Sinkhole 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sinkhole.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-sinkhole.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sinkhole
Also written: sink-hole (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of sinkhole
- sinkholes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sink hole
- sink-hole
- sinkholing participle, present
- sinkholed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sinkhole mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hole formed in soluble rock by the action of water, serving to conduct surface water to an underground passage.
- 2
A depressed area in which waste or drainage collects.
- 3
A hole in the playfield that rewards the player when the ball is guided into it.
- 4
A domain name server that has been configured to hand out non-routeable addresses for all domains, so that every computer that uses it will fail to get access to the real website.
- 5
An attack which redirects requests, whether network or memory accesses, to a new location defined by the attacker.
verb
- 1
To configure as a sinkhole (domain name server that gives non-routeable addresses).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sinkhole in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | doline, gouffre |
| German | Doline, Senkloch, Sinkloch, Erdfall, Schwinde, Flussschwinde |
| Portuguese | dolina |
| Spanish | torca, dolina, cenote , desagüe |
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 sinkhole come from?
From Middle English sinkehole, sinkeholl, equivalent to sink + hole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).