tyrant
ty·rant/ˈtaɪɹənt/noun, adjective
tyrant is spelled T-Y-R-A-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (ty·rant). It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tyrant means “A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tyrant is tyrants.
How many letters and syllables are in tyrant?
| Letters | 6: T-Y-R-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ty·rant |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tyrant?
Tyrant appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th 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 tyrant?
- US /ˈtaɪɹənt/
Tyrant has 2 syllables, split ty·rant in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tyrant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tyrant?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tyrant from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɹənt/):
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 tyrant
- tyrants plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tyranting participle, present
- tyranted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tyrant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
- 2
obsoleteAny monarch or governor.
Cassius... set tyrants over all Syria.
- 3
A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
Tyrannes...be but Gods scourges which he will cast into the fyre when he hath done with them.
- 4
Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
[…] a sad tyrant, as my friends the Democrats sometimes are.
- 5
A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
A pike (called the tyranne of fishes).
- 6
The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
The lesser tyrants (Tyrannulae) are spread over the whole of America, where they represent the true flycatcher... The tyrants are bold and quarrelsome birds, particularly during the season of incubation.
adjective
- 1
Tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.
...a reconciliation between our no longer parent state, but tyrant state, and these colonies.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
- 2
obsoleteTo tyrannize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tyrant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 tyrant come from?
From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).