spyware
noun
spyware is spelled S-P-Y-W-A-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spyware means “Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in spyware?
| Letters | 7: S-P-Y-W-A-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th 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 spyware?
Spyware appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th 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 spyware?
Spyware 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-spyware.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does spyware mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Programs that surreptitiously monitor and report the actions of a computer user.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spyware in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense program:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | logiciel espion, espiogiciel |
| German | Spyware, Spionagesoftware |
| Portuguese | spyware |
| Spanish | software espía, programa espía |
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 spyware come from?
From spy + -ware.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).