subcontractor
noun
subcontractor is spelled S-U-B-C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-O-R: 13 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, subcontractor means “A contractor hired by another contractor (often a general contractor) and thus employed by that contractor rather than directly hired by the customer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of subcontractor is subcontractors.
How many letters and syllables are in subcontractor?
| Letters | 13: S-U-B-C-O-N-T-R-A-C-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,703rd 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 subcontractor?
Subcontractor appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd 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 subcontractor?
Subcontractor has 4 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-subcontractor.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of subcontractor
- subcontractors plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does subcontractor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A contractor hired by another contractor (often a general contractor) and thus employed by that contractor rather than directly hired by the customer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Subcontractor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense contractor hired by contractor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sous-traitant, sous-traitante |
| German | Subunternehmer |
| Portuguese | subempreiteiro |
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 subcontractor come from?
From sub- + contractor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).