strong
/stɹɒŋ/adjective, noun, adverb
strong is spelled S-T-R-O-N-G. The wrong spelling people search most is stronk: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 60 of all searches for the word. Strong is an adjective meaning “Capable of producing great physical force”.
How many letters and syllables are in strong?
| Letters | 6: S-T-R-O-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 166 times per million words; the 611th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, stronk, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell strong?
Strong is spelled S-T-R-O-N-G. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 60 of the searches for strong 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 strong?
Strong appears 166 times per million words in written English, the 611th 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 strong?
- UK /stɹɒŋ/
- UK [st̠͡ɹ̠ɒŋ]
- UK [ʃt̠͡ɹ̠ɒŋ]
Strong 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: En-uk-strong.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-strong.wav, En-us-strong.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with strong
Also written: strang.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with strong?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as strong from its last stressed vowel (/ɒŋ/, British pronunciation):
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 strong
- stronger comparative
- strongest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does strong mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Capable of producing great physical force.
a big strong man; Jake was tall and strong
- 2
Capable of withstanding great physical force.
a strong foundation; good strong shoes
- 3
Possessing power, might, or strength.
- 4
Determined; unyielding.
He is strong in the face of adversity.
- 5
Highly stimulating to the senses.
a strong light; a strong taste
- 6
Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor.
a strong smell
- 7
Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient.
a strong cup of coffee; a strong medicine
- 8
Having a high alcoholic content.
a strong drink
noun
- 1
Strong people, collectively.
adverb
- 1
In a strong manner.
As a salesperson I always come on strong.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate strong?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of strong: str.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Strong in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fort , solide |
| German | stark, kräftig , standhaft |
| Portuguese | forte , resistente |
| Spanish | fuerte , resistente |
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 strong come from?
From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).