svelte
/ˈsvɛlt/adjective
svelte is spelled S-V-E-L-T-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, svelte means “Attractively thin; gracefully slender” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in svelte?
| Letters | 6: S-V-E-L-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 73,203rd 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 svelte?
Svelte appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd 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 svelte?
- /ˈsvɛlt/
- /ˈsfɛlt/
Svelte 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-us-svelte.ogg, En-au-svelte.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of svelte
- svelter comparative
- sveltest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does svelte mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Attractively thin; gracefully slender.
- 2
Refined, delicate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Svelte in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense attractively thin, slender:
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 svelte come from?
Borrowed from French svelte, from Italian svelto (“stretched out”), past participle of svellere (“to pluck out, root out”), from Vulgar Latin *exvellere, from ex + vellere (“to pluck, stretch”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).