stilted
stilt·ed/ˈstɪltɪd/adjective, verb
stilted is spelled S-T-I-L-T-E-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables (stilt·ed). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, stilted means “Making use of or possessing a stilt or stilts, or things resembling stilts; raised on stilts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in stilted?
| Letters | 7: S-T-I-L-T-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: stilt·ed |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th 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 stilted?
Stilted appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th 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 stilted?
- US /ˈstɪltɪd/
Stilted has 2 syllables, split stilt·ed in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-stilted.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of stilted
- more stilted comparative
- most stilted superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stilted mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Making use of or possessing a stilt or stilts, or things resembling stilts; raised on stilts.
- 2
Elevated or raised in a contrived or unnatural way; stiff and artificially formal or pompous; also, depending on redundant, unnecessary elements.
He gave a stilted bow and left.
- 3
Of a building or architectural feature such as an arch or vault: supported by stilts (“supporting pillars or posts”); also (generally) having the main part raised above the usual level by some structure.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of stilt
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stilted in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | guindé |
| German | gestelzt |
| Spanish | acartonado, afectado , redicho |
| Portuguese | pomposo |
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 stilted come from?
From stilt + -ed.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).