umpteen
/ˈʌmp.tiːn/determiner
umpteen is spelled U-M-P-T-E-E-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a determiner, umpteen means “Relatively large but unspecified in number” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in umpteen?
| Letters | 7: U-M-P-T-E-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 80,453rd 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 umpteen?
Umpteen appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd 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 umpteen?
- UK /ˈʌmp.tiːn/
Umpteen 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-umpteen.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does umpteen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
determiner
- 1
informalRelatively large but unspecified in number.
She's taking umpteen friends with her to the party.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Umpteen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Relatively large but unspecified in number:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | trente-six, trente-six mille, trente-six-mille |
| German | zig |
| Portuguese | um bocado de, um monte de, inúmeros |
| Spanish | una multitud de, un montón de, tropecientos |
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 umpteen come from?
From ump (“a colloquial name for the dash "–" in Morse code”) + -teen. Unrelated to ump as in umpire, and simply a mnemonic rhyming aid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).