vigilant
vi·gi·lant/ˈvɪd͡ʒɪlənt/adjective
vigilant is spelled V-I-G-I-L-A-N-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables (vi·gi·lant). It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, vigilant means “Watchful, especially for danger or disorder; alert; wary” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in vigilant?
| Letters | 8: V-I-G-I-L-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: vi·gi·lant |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is vigilant?
Vigilant appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th 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 vigilant?
- /ˈvɪd͡ʒɪlənt/
Vigilant has 3 syllables, split vi·gi·lant in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-vigilant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of vigilant
- more vigilant comparative
- most vigilant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vigilant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Watchful, especially for danger or disorder; alert; wary.
Be vigilant for signs of disease in your garden.
- 2
rareIn vigilance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vigilant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense watchful:
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 vigilant come from?
From French vigilant or its source, Latin vigilans, present participle of vigilare (“stay awake”), from vigil (“awake”). Doublet of vigilante, from Spanish. Displaced Old English wacor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).