slay
/sleɪ/verb, adjective, noun, interjection
slay is spelled S-L-A-Y: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “slay vs sleigh” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, slay means “To kill; to murder” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in slay?
| Letters | 4: S-L-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,297th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is slay?
Slay appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,297th 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 slay?
- /sleɪ/
Slay has one syllable (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: En-us-slay.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with slay
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: sleigh, sley (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of slay
- slays present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- slaying participle, present
- slew past
- slayed past, participle
- slain participle, past
- more slay comparative
- most slay superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slay mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To kill; to murder.
The knight slew the dragon.
- 2
To eradicate or stamp out.
You must slay these thoughts.
- 3
informalTo defeat; to overcome (in a competition or contest).
- 4
slangTo delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter.
Ha ha! You slay me!
- 5
To amaze, stun, or otherwise incapacitate by excellence; to excel at something.
Your outfit slays!
- 6
slangTo have sex with.
adjective
- 1
That slays (in any sense).
noun
- 1
Something excellent, amazing, or fashionable.
- 2
Alternative form of sley
interjection
- 1
Used to express approval or amazement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to kill, murder:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tuer, assassiner, occire |
| German | töten, umbringen, erschlagen |
| Portuguese | matar, assassinar |
| Spanish | matar, asesinar |
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 slay come from?
From Middle English sleen, slen, from Old English slēan (“to hit, punch, strike; to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *slahan, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to hit, strike; to kill”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).