stint
/stɪnt/verb, noun
stint is spelled S-T-I-N-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “stent vs stint” about 30 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, stint means “To be sparing or mean” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in stint?
| Letters | 5: S-T-I-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is stint?
Stint appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 stint?
- /stɪnt/
Stint 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stint.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with stint
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of stint
- stints present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- stinting participle, present
- stinted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stint mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
archaicTo stop (an action); cease, desist.
- 2
obsoleteTo stop speaking or talking (of a subject).
- 3
To be sparing or mean.
The next party you throw, don't stint on the beer.
- 4
To restrain within certain limits; to bound; to restrict to a scant allowance.
- 5
To assign a certain task to (a person), upon the performance of which he/she is excused from further labour for that day or period; to stent.
- 6
To impregnate successfully; to get with foal.
noun
- 1
A period of time spent doing or being something; a spell.
He had a stint in jail.
- 2
Limit; bound; restraint; extent.
- 3
Quantity or task assigned; proportion allotted.
- 4
A part of the race between two consecutive pit stops.
- 5
Any of several very small wading birds in the genus Calidris. Types of sandpiper, such as the dunlin or the sanderling.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stint in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | cesar , callarse , escatimar , tiempo, lapso , turno |
| German | geizen , Strandläufer |
| French | passage, séjour |
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 stint come from?
From Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan (“to make blunt”) and *stintan (attested in āstintan (“to make dull, stint, assuage”)), from Proto-West Germanic *stuntijan, from Proto-Germanic *stuntijaną and Proto-Germanic *stintaną (“to make short”), probably influenced in some senses by cognate Old Norse *stynta, stytta (“to make short, shorten”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).