slapstick
noun
slapstick is spelled S-L-A-P-S-T-I-C-K: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, slapstick means “A style of humor focusing on physical comedy, such as slipping on a banana peel, and with foolish characters who get into humiliating situations” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of slapstick is slapsticks.
How many letters and syllables are in slapstick?
| Letters | 9: S-L-A-P-S-T-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,943rd 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 slapstick?
Slapstick appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd 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 slapstick?
Slapstick 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-slapstick.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of slapstick
- slapsticks plural
- slap-stick
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slapstick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A style of humor focusing on physical comedy, such as slipping on a banana peel, and with foolish characters who get into humiliating situations.
- 2
A pair of sticks attached at one end and used to create a slapping sound effect, used especially in slapstick comedy; a type of clapper.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slapstick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense physical comedy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pantalonnade |
| German | Slapstick |
| Portuguese | pastelão |
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 slapstick come from?
From slap + stick, calque of Italian batacchio. The pair of sticks was used by the comic character Harlequin in the commedia dell'arte.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).