themself
/ðɛmˈsɛlf/pronounnonstandard
themself is spelled T-H-E-M-S-E-L-F: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “themself vs themselves” about 50 times a month (Bing, United States). As a pronoun, themself means “The reflexive form of they, the third-person singular personal pronoun. The single person previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in themself?
| Letters | 8: T-H-E-M-S-E-L-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people 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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is themself?
Themself appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,073rd 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 themself?
- /ðɛmˈsɛlf/
Themself 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)-Vealhurl-themself.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with themself
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of themself
- of they singular
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does themself mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
pronoun
- 1
proscribedThe reflexive form of they, the third-person singular personal pronoun. The single person previously mentioned, as the object of a verb or following a preposition (also used for emphasis).
Someone could hurt themself.
- 2
nonstandardproscribedSynonym of themselves (the third-person plural).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does themself come from?
From Middle English theimself. Equivalent to them + -self. Reinforced by analogy with the singular-plural distinction between yourself and yourselves.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).