swearing
noun, verb
swearing is spelled S-W-E-A-R-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, swearing means “The act of swearing, or making an oath” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of swearing is swearings.
How many letters and syllables are in swearing?
| Letters | 8: S-W-E-A-R-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.4 times per million words; the 14,307th 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 swearing?
Swearing appears 3.4 times per million words in written English, the 14,307th 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 swearing?
Swearing 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-swearing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of swearing
- swearings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does swearing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of swearing, or making an oath.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of swear
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Swearing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of making an oath:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Fluchen |
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 swearing come from?
From Middle English swerynge; equivalent to swear + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).