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PlainSpell

smoking

/ˈsmoʊkɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb

smoking is spelled S-M-O-K-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, smoking means “Giving off smoke” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in smoking?

Letters7: S-M-O-K-I-N-G
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is smoking?

Smoking appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th 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 smoking?

  • UK /ˈsməʊkɪŋ/
  • US /ˈsmoʊkɪŋ/

Smoking 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: En-us-smoking.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with smoking?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as smoking from its last stressed vowel (/oʊkɪŋ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of smoking

  • more smoking comparative
  • most smoking superlative
  • smokings plural

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

What does smoking mean?

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

adjective

  1. 1

    Giving off smoke.

  2. 2

    slangSexually attractive, usually referring to a woman.

    That woman is smoking!

  3. 3

    slangShowing great skill or talent.

    The band put on a smoking performance.

noun

  1. 1

    The act or process of emitting smoke.

  2. 2

    The burning and inhalation of any drug, including tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, and others.

  3. 3

    The burning and inhalation of tobacco.

    Smoking can lead to lung cancer.

  4. 4

    The burning and inhalation of cigarettes.

  5. 5

    The act of exposing (something) to smoke; (by extension) the process by which foods are cured or flavored by smoke.

  6. 6

    obsoleteslangA bantering; teasing; mockery.

verb

  1. 1

    present participle and gerund of smoke (a form of smoke)

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

Smoking in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Portugueseesfumaçante (giving off smoke), gostoso (Sexually attractive, usually referring to a…), fumo, tabagismo (smoking of tobacco), esfumaçamento (action of giving off smoke)
Spanishhumeante (giving off smoke), tabaquismo (smoking of tobacco)
Frenchbonne (Sexually attractive, usually referring to a…), tabagisme (smoking of tobacco)
GermanRauchen (smoking of tobacco)

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 smoking come from?

From Middle English smokynge, smokiende, from Old English smociende (“smoking”), from Proto-Germanic *smukōndz (“emitting smoke, smoking”), equivalent to smoke + -ing.

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

What to look up after smoking