troll

/tɹɑl/noun, verb

troll is spelled T-R-O-L-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “trawl vs troll” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, troll means “a giant supernatural being, especially a grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of troll is trolls.

How many letters and syllables are in troll?

Letters	5: T-R-O-L-L
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	5.4 times per million words; the 10,680th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	trawl vs troll
Rhymes with	vol doll col pol more

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is troll?

Troll appears 5.4 times per million words in written English, the 10,680th most frequent word form in the list.

troll0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce troll?

UK /tɹɒl/
UK /tɹəʊl/
US /tɹɑl/

Troll 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-au-troll.ogg, Troll.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with troll

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

trawl vs troll40 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with troll?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as troll from its last stressed vowel (/ɑl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of troll

trolls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
trolling participle, present
trolled participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
trowl
trowle

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does troll mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
a giant supernatural being, especially a grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges.
2
obsoleteA type of diminutive supernatural being; a dwarf.
3
derogatoryslangAn ugly or unpleasant person.
4
An optical ejection from the top of the electrically active core region of a thunderstorm that is red in colour and seems to occur after tendrils of vigorous sprites extend downward towards cloudtops.
5
informalA Michigander who lives on the mainland, i.e. not a resident of the Upper Peninsula, so named due to living south of the Mackinaw Bridge.
6
An act of moving round; a repetition, a routine.
7
An act of fishing by using a running fishing line, or by trailing a line with bait or lures behind a boat.
8
A fishing line, bait, or lure used to fish in these ways.
9
An inflammatory or insincere statement posted in an attempt to lure others into combative argument (a flame war), originally a way for regulars (long-time users) to poke light-hearted fun at new posters (especially in Usenet newsgroups) and promote in-group cohesion ("trolling for newbies").
10
A person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument for purposes of personal entertainment or to manipulate their perception, especially in an online community or discussion.
11
A person who sows discord, or spreads misinformation or propaganda, in order to promote an agenda as part of an organized political campaign.
12
derogatoryinformalA company, person, etc., that owns and legally enforces copyrights, patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights in an aggressive and opportunistic manner, often with no intention of commercially exploiting the subjects of the rights.
13
A song the parts of which are sung in succession; a catch, a round.

verb

1
To move (something, especially a round object) by, or as if by, rolling; to bowl, to roll, to trundle.
2
obsoleteOften followed by in: to cause (something) to flow or roll in like a stream.
3
To roll; also, to turn round and round; to rotate, to spin, to whirl.
4
To move or walk at a leisurely pace; to ramble, to saunter, to stroll.
5
slangChiefly of a man: synonym of cruise (“to stroll about to find a (male) sexual partner”).
6
obsoleteFollowed by in: to flow or roll in like a stream.
7
archaicTo sing the parts of (a catch, round, or similar song) in succession; also (generally), to sing (a song) freely or in a carefree way, or loudly.
8
obsoleteTo pass (something, specifically a bowl or other communal drinking vessel) from one person to another; to circulate, to send about.