spook
/spʊk/noun, verb
spook is spelled S-P-O-O-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spook means “A ghost or phantom” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spook is spooks.
How many letters and syllables are in spook?
| Letters | 5: S-P-O-O-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,636th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 spook?
Spook appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th 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 spook?
- /spuːk/
- US /spʊk/
Spook 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-au-spook.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with spook?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spook from its last stressed vowel (/ʊk/):
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 spook
- spooks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- spooking participle, present
- spooked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spook mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA ghost or phantom.
The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.
- 2
informalA scare or fright.
The big spider gave me a spook.
- 3
slangAn undercover agent, spy, or intelligence analyst.
- 4
datedoffensiveslangA black person.
- 5
A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct.
- 6
USslangA psychiatrist.
- 7
slangA player who engages in hole carding by attempting to glimpse the dealer's hole card when the dealer checks under an ace or a 10 to see if a blackjack is present.
verb
- 1
To frighten or make nervous (especially by startling).
The hunters were spooked when the black cat crossed their path. The movement in the bushes spooked the deer and they ran.
- 2
To become frightened (by something startling).
The deer spooked at the sound of the dogs.
- 3
To haunt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spook in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fantôme, revenant , barbouze, espion , bamboula |
| German | Geist, Phantom, Gespenst , Geheimagent, Spion |
| Spanish | sobresaltar, asustar, espantar, aterrorizar |
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 spook come from?
Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).