skunkworks
noun
skunkworks is spelled S-K-U-N-K-W-O-R-K-S: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, skunkworks means “A loosely organized research and development team or facility” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in skunkworks?
| Letters | 10: S-K-U-N-K-W-O-R-K-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 159,707th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 skunkworks?
Skunkworks appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th 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).
Forms of skunkworks
- skunk works
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does skunkworks mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A loosely organized research and development team or facility.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does skunkworks come from?
From skunk + works, since c. 1943. Skunk Works was the nickname of Lockheed Advanced Development Projects, eventually gaining official recognition. The name is derived from a mysterious, foul-smelling “skonk oil”-brewing facility called the Skonk Works in the comic strip L'il Abner by Al Capp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).