strum
/strʌm/verb, noun
strum is spelled S-T-R-U-M: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, strum means “To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in strum?
| Letters | 5: S-T-R-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd 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 strum?
Strum appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd 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 strum?
- /strʌm/
Strum 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-strum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of strum
- strums present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- strumming participle, present
- strummed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does strum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To play (a guitar or other stringed instrument) by plucking various strings simultaneously.
noun
- 1
The sound made by playing various strings of a stringed instrument simultaneously.
hear the strum of a guitar
- 2
The act of strumming.
give the banjo a little strum
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Strum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense play a stringed instrument:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | racler, gratter |
| German | schrammeln |
| Spanish | rasguear, charrasquear |
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 strum come from?
Variant of thrum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).