vegetate
/ˈvɛd͡ʒɪteɪt/verb
vegetate is spelled V-E-G-E-T-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, vegetate means “To grow or sprout” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in vegetate?
| Letters | 8: V-E-G-E-T-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 26 million words; the 155,937th 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 vegetate?
Vegetate appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th 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 vegetate?
- /ˈvɛd͡ʒɪteɪt/
Vegetate 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-vegetate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of vegetate
- vegetates present, singular, he/she/it
- vegetating participle, present
- vegetated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vegetate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To grow or sprout.
- 2
To spread abnormally.
- 3
informalTo live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vegetate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | végéter |
| Portuguese | vegetar |
| Spanish | vegetar , apalancarse |
| German | vegetieren |
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 vegetate come from?
Borrowed from Latin vegetātus, perfect passive participle of vegetō (“to enliven, to arouse”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).