straighten
straight·en/ˈstɹeɪtn̩/verb
straighten is spelled S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T-E-N, 2 syllables: straight·en. The wrong spelling people search most is straiten: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Straighten is a verb meaning “To cause to become straight”.
How many letters and syllables are in straighten?
| Letters | 10: S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: straight·en |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, straiten, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
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); 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell straighten?
Straighten is spelled S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T-E-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for straighten in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is straighten?
Straighten appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th 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 straighten?
- /ˈstɹeɪtn̩/
Straighten has 2 syllables, split straight·en in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-straighten.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with straighten?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as straighten.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shattering.
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 straighten
- straightens present, singular, he/she/it
- straightening participle, present
- straightened participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does straighten mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To cause to become straight.
- 2
To become straight.
- 3
To put in order; to sort; to tidy up.
to straighten one's affairs
- 4
To clarify a situation or concept to (an audience).
- 5
slangTo bribe or corrupt.
- 6
To stand up, especially from a sitting position.
- 7
informalTo make heterosexual.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Straighten in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make straight:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | redresser |
| Portuguese | endireitar, alisar |
| Spanish | estirar, desencorvar, destorcer, enderezar, arrectar |
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 straighten come from?
From straight + -en. Compare Scots strauchten (“to straighten”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).