underscore
/ˈʌn.dɚˌskoɹ/noun, verb
underscore is spelled U-N-D-E-R-S-C-O-R-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, underscore means “A line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of underscore is underscores.
How many letters and syllables are in underscore?
| Letters | 10: U-N-D-E-R-S-C-O-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th 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 underscore?
Underscore appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th 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 underscore?
- UK /ˈʌn.dəˌskɔː(ɹ)/
- US /ˈʌn.dɚˌskoɹ/
As a verb (“To underline; to mark a line beneath text”): /ˈʌn.dəˌskɔː(ɹ)/, /ˈʌn.dɚˌskoɹ/, /ˌʌn.dəˈskɔː(ɹ)/.
Underscore has 3 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-underscore.wav, En-us-underscore.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-underscore2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of underscore
- underscores plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- underscoring participle, present
- underscored participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does underscore mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.
- 2
A piece of background music.
verb
- 1
To underline; to mark a line beneath text.
- 2
To emphasize or draw attention to.
I wish to underscore the importance of proper formatting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Underscore in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tiret bas, souligné, blanc souligné, sous-tiret, tiret du 8 , souligner |
| German | Unterstreichung, Unterstrich, Grundstrich , unterstreichen |
| Portuguese | underline, sublinha, travessão , sublinhar |
| Spanish | guion bajo, barra baja |
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 underscore come from?
From under- + score.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).