spindrift
spin·drift/ˈspɪnˌdɹɪft/noun
spindrift is spelled S-P-I-N-D-R-I-F-T: 9 letters and 2 syllables (spin·drift). It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spindrift means “Sea spray (clouds of water droplets) blown from the tops of waves by the wind and whipped along the surface of the sea” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spindrift is spindrifts.
How many letters and syllables are in spindrift?
| Letters | 9: S-P-I-N-D-R-I-F-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: spin·drift |
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 136,649th 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 spindrift?
Spindrift appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th 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 spindrift?
- UK /ˈspɪndɹɪft/
- US /ˈspɪnˌdɹɪft/
Spindrift has 2 syllables, split spin·drift in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spindrift.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spindrift
- spindrifts plural
- speendrift
- spoondrift
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spindrift mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Sea spray (clouds of water droplets) blown from the tops of waves by the wind and whipped along the surface of the sea.
- 2
Clouds of sand, snow, etc., whipped along the ground by the wind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spindrift in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sea spray blown from the tops of waves by the wind and whipped along the surface:
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 spindrift come from?
Borrowed from Scots spindrift; further etymology uncertain. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests it is a variant of spoondrift (archaic), apparently due to the pronunciation of this word in southwestern Scotland, which is derived from spoon + drift (“mass of matter driven or forced onward together in a body, etc., especially by wind or water”); spoon is a variant of spoom (“to sail briskly with the wind astern, with or without sails hoisted”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).