tardigrade
tar·di·grade/ˈtɑɹdɪˌɡɹeɪd/adjective, noun
tardigrade is spelled T-A-R-D-I-G-R-A-D-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (tar·di·grade). It appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, tardigrade means “Sluggish; moving slowly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tardigrade?
| Letters | 10: T-A-R-D-I-G-R-A-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: tar·di·grade |
| In writing | about once in every 23 million words; the 145,125th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tardigrade?
Tardigrade appears about once in every 23 million words in written English, the 145,125th 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 tardigrade?
- /ˈtɑɹdɪˌɡɹeɪd/
Tardigrade has 3 syllables, split tar·di·grade in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tardigrade.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tardigrade
- more tardigrade comparative
- most tardigrade superlative
- tardigrades plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tardigrade mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Sluggish; moving slowly.
noun
- 1
A member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.
- 2
obsoleteA sloth, a neotropical mammal of suborder Folivora (syn. Tardigrada).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does tardigrade come from?
From Latin tardigradus (“slowly stepping”), from tardus (“slow”) + gradior (“step, walk”), equivalent to Latin tardus + -i- + -grade.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).