standstill
/ˈstændˌstɪl/noun
standstill is spelled S-T-A-N-D-S-T-I-L-L: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, standstill means “A complete immobility; a halt” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of standstill is standstills.
How many letters and syllables are in standstill?
| Letters | 10: S-T-A-N-D-S-T-I-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th 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 standstill?
Standstill appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th 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 standstill?
- US /ˈstændˌstɪl/
- [ˈstɛən(d)ˌstɪɫ]
Standstill 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)-StuckInLagToad-standstill.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with standstill
Also written: stand still (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of standstill
- standstills plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does standstill mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A complete immobility; a halt.
The wreck brought traffic to a standstill for hours.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Standstill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense complete immobility:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | arrêt, immobilisation, paralysie, surplace |
| German | Stillstand |
| Portuguese | paralisação |
| Spanish | parada, detención, detenimiento |
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 standstill come from?
From stand + still, a deverbal from stand still. Compare Dutch stilstand (“a standstill”), German Stillstand (“a standstill”), Danish stilstand (“a standstill”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).