stricken
/ˈstɹɪkən/adjective, verb
stricken is spelled S-T-R-I-C-K-E-N: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, stricken means “Struck by something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in stricken?
| Letters | 8: S-T-R-I-C-K-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th 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 stricken?
Stricken appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th 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 stricken?
- /ˈstɹɪkən/
Stricken 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: En-us-stricken.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of stricken
- more stricken comparative
- most stricken superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stricken mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Struck by something.
The town was stricken by a devastating earthquake that left many buildings in ruins.
- 2
Disabled or incapacitated by something.
- 3
Having its name removed from a country's naval register, e.g. the United States Naval Vessel Register.
verb
- 1
past participle of strike
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stricken in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense struck by something:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | ergriffen, heimgesucht, betroffen, verwundet, gedrückt |
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 stricken come from?
From Middle English striken, ystriken, from Old English stricen, ġestricen, from Proto-West Germanic *strikan, from Proto-Germanic *strikanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *strīkaną (“to strike”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).