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skipper

skip·perUK /ˈskɪp.ə/noun, verb

skipper is spelled S-K-I-P-P-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (skip·per). It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, skipper means “The master of a ship” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of skipper is skippers.

How many letters and syllables are in skipper?

Letters7: S-K-I-P-P-E-R
Syllables2: skip·per
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 skipper?

Skipper appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th 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 skipper?

  • UK /ˈskɪp.ə/
  • UK [ˈskɪp.ə]
  • /ˈskɘp.ɘ/

Skipper has 2 syllables, split skip·per in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-skipper.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of skipper

  • skippers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • skip
  • skippering participle, present
  • skippered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does skipper mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The master of a ship.

  2. 2

    A coach, director, or other leader.

  3. 3

    The captain of a sports team such as football, cricket, rugby or curling.

  4. 4

    UKinformalSynonym of detective sergeant, especially as a term of direct address.

  5. 5

    Agent noun of skip: one who skips. (a form of skip)

  6. 6

    A person who skips, or fails to attend class.

  7. 7

    One who jumps rope.

  8. 8

    Any of various butterflies of the families Hesperiidae and its subfamily Megathyminae, having a hairy mothlike body, hooked tips on the antennae, and a darting flight pattern.

  9. 9

    Any of several marine fishes that often leap above water, especially Cololabis saira (Pacific saury) and Sprattus sprattus (European sprat).

  10. 10

    obsoleteA young, thoughtless person.

  11. 11

    The cheese maggot, the larva of a cheese fly (family Piophilidae), which leaps to escape predators.

  12. 12

    A barn or shed in which to shelter for the night.

  13. 13

    A short-sleeved (or long-sleeved) tee-shirt, or sweatshirt.

verb

  1. 1

    To captain a ship or a sports team.

  2. 2

    To take shelter in a barn or shed.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate skipper?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of skipper: skip.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Skipper in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcapitaine, skipper (master of a ship), hespéridé (butterfly of the family Hesperiidae)
GermanSchiffer, Kapitän, Schiffskapitän (master of a ship), Dickkopffalter (butterfly of the family Hesperiidae), Teamkapitän, Teamchef (captain of sports team)
Spanishpatrón (master of a ship), hespérido (butterfly of the family Hesperiidae), capitan (captain of sports team), entrenador (coach, director, leader)

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 skipper come from?

From Middle English skippere, skyppere, scippere, borrowed from Middle Dutch scipper, schipper, from Old Dutch *skipāri, from Proto-Germanic *skipārijaz. Piecewise doublet of shipper, from ship + -er.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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